What exactly does" troll" mean on this website? I've seen a few people call others troll on here... Wasn't sure if you meant, they are fake questions, people that don't spell correctly, people that are rude, all the above, etc...
Just wondering :)
In Internet slang, a troll is someone who posts inflammatory, , or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum, chat room, or blog, with the primary intent of provoking other users into a desired emotional response
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I've always been interested in the etymology of words, where they come from and why they are used to describe a specific action.
In fishing, trolling is where one or more fishing lines, baited with lures or bait fish, are drawn through the water.
In mythology, a troll is a devious, ugly creature. They tend to live under bridges and harass passerby's.
So when someone is called a troll on the internet I get a mental image of a devious, ugly creature baiting a community with their words, trying to lure unsuspecting readers to respond and "rise to the bait".
When you see someone post "don't feed the trolls" they're telling you not to respond in a serious manner to the bait postings.
I find trolls entertaining because there are very few things I take completely seriously on the internet.
So many internet savvy people and they don't think to Google it.
Trolling in fishing is to bait for a bite.
Trolling on the internet is the same thing.
Say anything outrageous to get people to 'bite' - rise to a response - a sort of 'made you look' childish thing and the more they can get people foaming at the mouth the better.
It's almost like inciting people to riot, pouring gasoline on the fire, etc.
Saying things like "I just got my 6th abortion and I don't understand why people get so upset" blah blah blah on this site is almost a guarantee to get a rise out of the most polite posters regarding their morals or lack thereof.
The thing is, responders are posting to fantasy made up situations designed to jerk people around - it makes people angry and they feel used.
Sites who do not discourage trolls ultimately lose users, and that hurts the advertizing base, so most will eventually ban them (block their IP address).
It cuts down on them, but you never know when another will pop up.
Troll traffic tends to go up when monitors are not present (on weekends here), or when school is out (unsupervised kids on the internet).
Some trolls make up all kinds of things and weave stories about them in order to draw people into their drama. Then they can't keep their stories straight, and people don't like that around here. Most folks try to actually put thought into what they write and advise, and to be hit with a lot of made up stuff (especially when it's pretty awful) is like a kick in the face. So that's a kind of troll.
Just because someone fusses at people for hateful posts doesn't mean they are a troll. It's how they ACT that means they are a troll. And there are people who deliberately stir up trouble who might not be trolls themselves, but they are ACTING like a troll.
Hope this helps...
Dawn
It is someone who asks an antagonistic question to get a rile out of people. Then continues to ask similar questions.
In addition to what Laurie said, it is very doubtful they are anything like description they give of themselves--made up identity-- e.g. one sick puppy.
to me, on here, a troll is someone who isn't on here to help other or get help. they may not even be a parent. they are on there to pose question, that are usually VERY extreme or dire to trying to get people angry, debating, etc. Usually just out of fun. Sometime in Nov/Dev, and Apr/May you can tell that there is a psychology or sociology class that has given an assignment because all of a sudden two or three people will ask the same type of extreme question or have the same situation within minutes of each other.
I referred to someone on here yesterday as a troll because she was a new user, used text spelling in her responses, and most of her responses ended with 'can't you sue?' when that line of thinking, to me, wasn't anywhere near what the question was about.
Laurie A has given the correct definition of a troll. Not spelling correctly means the person can't spell and probably doesn't have anything to do with being a troll. Same for rude people. They are just rude and probably not a troll unless they've written for the purpose of irritating or inflaming readers. Inflame means to stir up emotions.
K1:
Some of the trolls we get on here just like to create drama...for no reason.
We had one kid (who knows could've been an adult) post about squirting ketchup at McDonald's and his mom told him he was a baby. he/she/it wanted to know if they could call CPS for that.
We have one troll on here call ALL OF US HATERS - every single last one of us - as she apparently felt that we had treated her sister poorly.
Some of the trolls do spell things wrong - INTENTIONALLY - some ask questions that are just BIZARRE - for first time questions - or ANY time questions. Does that make sense?
Just because people are rude, doesn't make them a troll. It just makes them rude!! LOL!!! However, the problem with the written word? What one feels is honesty - another will feel is rude. They don't like what the person says - maybe hits too close to home - or just isn't what they want to hear? it's considered rude in their book.
