Does "Trolls" Refer to Invading Freepers Only?

[Stevendsmith]

Cuz I like referring to all wing nuts as trolls. It just feels good!

[BigDaddyLove]

1. Seems to me that if you disagree with the majority.............

on any website you are deemed a troll before too long.

Seems like it has lost it's rhetorical punch in a way.

[Bronco69]

2. In the gay community "troll" has an entirely

different meaning, I'm sure. :-)

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

3. "A Troll Apologizes"

I found this posted on another forum. The concept of right-wing trolling I think it explains Ann Culter and that other guy. I've also seen it posted: "You cannot tell the difference between a conservative and a troll." Meaning, it's hard to tell if someone like Rush Limbaugh is serious and really believes all that stuff, or if it's just the rantings of someone on drugs who's trying to piss people off. You tell me? :shrug:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=545688

"For the last year, I've been posting inflamatory messages under various handles. I'm not proud of what I've done, but I hope to explain my actions so everyone can at least understand it.

When I first joined AOL, I hadn't had that much experience with the internet. I naturally gravitated to the politics forums, since I watch tv to keep myself informed of current events.

I was shocked by all the Republican rhetoric - war is good, civil liberties are bad, people demonizing poor mothers, racist and sexist attacks, and constant ass kissing of the rich and powerful. I am a conservative, but I would post against these people and register my disapproval.

Of course, writing a well reasoned response to rabid propaganda had the expected effect: just more attacks, and lots of insinuations that I was involved in sexual practices that I most certainly am not.

After one particualarly obscene posting from someone CLAIMING to be a Republican, I shot back a witty comeback in which I claimed to be a Republican too, and I took his idea to a ridiculous point that would offend all normal Americans. Reductio ad absurdem, as the French would say. I expected him to call me names again, but I was shocked that he took me seriously, and told me he forwarded my posts to a few Republican friends. I was amused, somewhat frightened, and a bit curious.

Then everything got out of hand. I started posting the most vile, crazy, semi-illiterate crap, and the Republicans and conservatives keep agreeing. I wrote that the ACLU was hell bent on destroying our country because they defend free speech for bad people like the KKK. I said that Bill Clinton personally trained terrorists in Arkansas. I explained that Fox news is really centrist, but all the other large corporations were so hell bent on destroying capitalism that FOX seemed conservative in comparison. And I wrote that one black welfare queen was responsible for 2% of the 1998 federal budget, and posted a link to a long, complicated chart about accounting or something.

Since then, things have gone pretty well. I've got a blog now, I've been a semi-regular guest on a few talk radio shows, and I'm in discussion with Bantam for a book tentatively titled, Why Do You Hate America So Much?

Anyway, I just wanted to say thank you to all of you who responded, and especially those of you who took my writing and reposted it around the internet. I think that was what kept me going, even when someone called me on that welfare link (boy, was that embarrasing!)

And I am truly very sorry for trolling.

I'll be signing copies of some of my most classic posts at Borders Books in Union Square Jan 3, 7:00 PM. See you there!"

[trof]

4. Also a method of fishing.

But that's another discussion.

[Spirochete]

5. I've always thought the term troll

was derived from the fishing term, where you drag a bait through the water to see what grabs onto it. In this case, someone posts something controversial or irrelevant, to see how many people will be suckered into posting a reply.

[Philostopher]

6. It is derived from the fishing term.

It was, originally, 'trolling for newbies,' which is to say posting inflammatory topics that would only draw new posters on a Usenet newsgroup into battle. Vets of the groups would know the subjects that would cause flame wars, and either avoid them or make some kind of a general agreement not to discuss them. 'Trolling' meant entering a newsgroup -- say a cat newsgroup -- and espousing something that was bound to cause flame wars (such as raw diets or declawing, in the case of cat groups). It has since been morphed into calling the poster a 'troll,' but originally this wasn't the case -- you're absolutely correct.