The Job of a Good Troll is to Sow Division in the Ranks

[Tom Rinaldo]

A good troll doesn't have to carry the actual load, they just set things in motion. Aggravated passionate partisans do the real work for them. There is nothing like a good old family feud to sap the will and the morale of the real opposition. Think Hatfields & McCoys. At a certain point almost no one remembers or even cares how a feud was launched, just that your side is under attack and has to be defended, against them. Things keep getting uglier while the work of a troll gets done for them.

[NCTraveler]

1. Enjoyed the thoughts you have shared here.

Very relevant.

[corkhead]

2. Clint Eastwood is a troll. First in Fist Full Of Dollars, then at the Republicon Convention.

[BlueJazz]

3. Sometimes it's hard to tell. Some of the Juries I've been on have made me wonder if more than ..

...a few "Alerts" are just total bullshit

[Tom Rinaldo]

4. I think true trolls are scarce though always in the mix

The ones who are best at it know how to inflame passions among us. Once that has been sufficiently achieved there is always more than enough sincere outrage to go around to keep hostilities bubbling without a trolls direct fingerprints on them.

[BlueJazz]

5. Yep..that's very true. I'm sure some of them do it so much (even at other sites) that they learn...

...the exact buttons to push.

[Tom Rinaldo]

9. Yes they master advanced button pushing

It's a required part of the Toll curriculum that must be completed in order to get certified.

[PatSeg]

12. True

If they are professional trolls, they are well trained and know how to button-push without getting banned.

[Nitram]

6. Right, like calling Sanders a racist

Or labeling Clinton "corporatist" or "Nixonian".

[senz]

13. There is not one iota of evidence to support any claim that Bernie is a racist.

Not one. Nothing. It's entirely extraneous.

OTOH, there exists evidence that could lead one to see corporatism, or Nixon-like traits, in Hillary. And to say so does not make the commenter a troll.

[Fumesucker]

7. I think the last few days have revealed quite a lot of trolling

I learned things specifically that I had only guessed or suspected before, I really didn't want to think that certain posters were as bigoted as they have turned out to be.

Another in a long string of educational DU moments.

[artislife]

8. It's hard growing up, isn't it.

It is amazing how social media has let us into the heads of our friends.

I have a lot of fb friends were we all belong to a business networking group. I am sure they think I am a leftist--one person calls me the Democrat. It is a business group, so there are a few hard core fiscal republicans. And fundies...oh my. I am afraid to say I am an atheist. Better to say I support Bernie, which I think they just want to pat me on the head for. Not believing in baby jesus...well--my business could suffer real consequences.

There is one who has a Bernie bumpersticker, though.

[HereSince1628]

10. I thought organizing DU opposition against members using names pulled off DU polls

was just my paranoia!

[Motown_Johnny]

11. Who sent you hear to say that ?