How do you define...

[Block]

TROLLING. What is trolling to you? Do you like to do it? Are you being trolled right now? Tell a good Troll story.

Once upon a time there were three billy goats, who were to go up to the hillside to make themselves fat, and the name of all three was "Gruff."

On the way up was a bridge over a cascading stream they had to cross; and under the bridge lived a great ugly troll , with eyes as big as saucers, and a nose as long as a poker.

So first of all came the youngest Billy Goat Gruff to cross the bridge.

"Trip, trap, trip, trap! " went the bridge.

"Who's that tripping over my bridge?" roared the troll .

"Oh, it is only I, the tiniest Billy Goat Gruff , and I'm going up to the hillside to make myself fat," said the billy goat, with such a small voice.

"Now, I'm coming to gobble you up," said the troll.

"Oh, no! pray don't take me. I'm too little, that I am," said the billy goat. "Wait a bit till the second Billy Goat Gruff comes. He's much bigger."

"Well, be off with you," said the troll.

A little while after came the second Billy Goat Gruff to cross the bridge.

Trip, trap, trip, trap, trip, trap, went the bridge.

"Who's that tripping over my bridge?" roared the troll.

"Oh, it's the second Billy Goat Gruff , and I'm going up to the hillside to make myself fat," said the billy goat, who hadn't such a small voice.

"Now I'm coming to gobble you up," said the troll.

"Oh, no! Don't take me. Wait a little till the big Billy Goat Gruff comes. He's much bigger."

"Very well! Be off with you," said the troll.

But just then up came the big Billy Goat Gruff .

Trip, trap, trip, trap, trip, trap! went the bridge, for the billy goat was so heavy that the bridge creaked and groaned under him.

"Who's that tramping over my bridge?" roared the troll.

"It's I! The big Billy Goat Gruff ," said the billy goat, who had an ugly hoarse voice of his own.

"Now I 'm coming to gobble you up," roared the troll.

Well, come along! I've got two spears,
And I'll poke your eyeballs out at your ears;
I've got besides two curling-stones,
And I'll crush you to bits, body and bones.

That was what the big billy goat said. And then he flew at the troll, and poked his eyes out with his horns, and crushed him to bits, body and bones, and tossed him out into the cascade, and after that he went up to the hillside. There the billy goats got so fat they were scarcely able to walk home again. And if the fat hasn't fallen off them, why, they're still fat; and so,

Snip, snap, snout.
This tale's told out.

[che]

Trolling is an art. It's easy to do, but hard to master. It requires a high level of sarcasm, and anticipation that someone is going to think the troll is serious and get offended. It's kind of a cheap tactic in a lot of cases, since it can be quite hard for people to detect sarcasm on the internet. In most trolling cases, it's just a play off what the general population thinks to make people offended enough to where they will get angry and post something in response, totally oblivious to the sarcasm.

It can be quite humorous but I think it's overdone sometimes. Like I said, it's easy to do but hard to master.

[GypsyElder]

^ Then I think El Gatopod needs to complete his torlling school......There is school for that right?

[loaf]

Trolling is a art, not an art wtf. An art.

I used to troll all the time a couple years back. I enjoyed it a lot since it also just wasn't thru text/posts. A lot was with mics on Ventrilo. I honestly don't do it as much anymore...and on here it's not to often anymore...don't remember the last time I did troll on here.

It does get annoying sometimes.

[Clint]

The only reason that there are trolls to begin with is because everybody is so serious. Like what Chad explained, it's difficult to detect sarcasm over the internet, and people will mistakenly take something that wasn't meant to be taken literally, literally. That's the case for most trolling cases.

At least that was the case for me. I actually got banned for kind of trolling, but it was more harassment than anything else. I would say things in jest and watch all the retards flip their lids over it. It was fun while it lasted, but I'm not allowed to do it anymore, nor should I have been allowed to do it to begin with, but that's not my problem.

All in all, trolling, whether in jest or because you're retarded, always gets out of hand, because a joke is a very serious thing.

[che]

Trolling is a art, not an art wtf. An art.

Am I being trolled?

[Pete]

I think Clint described it pretty well. It's being sarcastic, then watching people lose their shit because they can't take a joke. It's like the retarded cousin of flaming.

With flaming, you just lay into a person with pretty much everything you've got.

With trolling, it's like leaving an open oil barrel in a smokers den.

[Unknown Entity]

To me, a troll is someone who feels the need to say something knowing someone could take offence. After all, it's only a joke if everyone is laughing.

The people who are serious on the internet probably are in the flesh too, but that doesn't mean they should be labeled as "the people you can't joke around with on the internet". As Clint said, and I'll add to it, is that it's difficult to convey any sort of emotion via text successfully. There will be people who get it, and some who won't, and that's perfectly acceptable. If no one was serious online, the whole internet may as well become 4chan.

... then the lolcat ninja geeks will find you, and it won't be pretty (seriously, those dudes can find anyone).

One thing I have noticed about some trollers is that the second they've offended someone, they don't take immediate responsibility and they try to push the knife in further for the sake of some "lulz", and to perhaps humiliate someone (sometimes it turns out to be themselves... ah, karma). That said, I don't think there's anything wrong with being a troll, but only if you know the audience you're dealing with and when enough is enough.

With trolling, it's like leaving an open oil barrel in a smokers den.

Then the den had better have an extinguisher and the person responsible should pay for the damage. Playing with fire is funny until someone gets burnt.

[Taco-Calamitous]

I find it funny sometimes when it's not aimed at me. And sometimes when it is, if I get that it's trolling. However, it does get annoying at times, especially when the troll never "turns it off." There comes a point when it becomes obvious that you're never going to see eye to eye with someone, even if it would be fairly easy to do, if they'd cut the shit for a few seconds and try to see things from your perspective. You're just supposed to roll with all their punches, and never complain or give it back. It's pretty awesome when a troll complains because you are trolling them, though. It's like "Oh, so it's okay for you to do that, but not for me?" Double standards are the damndest things. Anyhoo...

Wuv, Yer Mom

[che]

I find it funny sometimes when it's not aimed at me. And sometimes when it is, if I get that it's trolling. However, it does get annoying at times, especially when the troll never "turns it off." There comes a point when it becomes obvious that you're never going to see eye to eye with someone, even if it would be fairly easy to do, if they'd cut the shit for a few seconds and try to see things from your perspective. You're just supposed to roll with all their punches, and never complain or give it back. It's pretty awesome when a troll complains because you are trolling them, though. It's like "Oh, so it's okay for you to do that, but not for me?" Double standards are the damndest things. Anyhoo...

Wuv, Yer Mom

Honestly, the whole point is for you to take offense. If you're just cool about it "oh damn you got me", maybe at that point by being the bigger man it'd be a sign for the troll to step down and get real. At that point you can decide if that person is cool whether they actually come down and real talk or if they continue. I see this a lot in male bonding, and not just online but a lot of the time irl.

[Pete]

Honestly, the whole point is for you to take offense. If you're just cool about it "oh damn you got me", maybe at that point by being the bigger man it'd be a sign for the troll to step down and get real. At that point you can decide if that person is cool whether they actually come down and real talk or if they continue. I see this a lot in male bonding, and not just online but a lot of the time irl.

I'm gonna have to agree with this. A lot of what people consider trolling here is nothing more than your run of the mill ball busting, that pretty much all guys do to each other. Those who roll with the punches and dish it back out are usually accepted, and those who go crying off to mommy aren't.

[Rocky]

What's a troll?

[Furore]

Most of the more successful net trolls I know IRL are the types who aren't able to cope with shit IRL too well. I get the feeling some of them do it to compensate for that even if they won't admit it, though I have had one case where one actually brought it up to me on another forum. That was pretty cool though, I ended up scaring and occasionally snotting some of the pricks targeting him locally (University bullies, frat types, more bark than bite generally), he ended up having my back on that site against trolls I'd have no chance against because I'm much better at solving disputes in person than I am in online pissing contests.

Really they're just playing to their strengths, though it's so easy to hide behind an online persona that it's a lot more common to see people go overboard online than off. You target people offline and unless you tie loose ends properly the law'll want to pick a bone with you. You target them online and it's much harder to get found and dealt with.

I've attempted to 'counter-troll' every so often, but I'm really not playing to my strengths by doing so.

[Taco-Calamitous]

Most of what you guys do doesn't bother me when it's at me anymore (if we're talking about TFF) I have learned over the past few years. Sometimes I'm tired or something, though, and I fail to see the humor or whatever, and I just don't want to put up with it. I don't really experience this kind of stuff anywhere else in my life.

I also think it's important to consider a member's age when you troll or even ball bust them, because they might be a lot younger than you, and therefore have less experience than you. Not everybody grows up with the same experiences, either. Anyhoo...

Wuv, Yer Mom

[Alpha]

I've attempted to 'counter-troll' every so often, but I'm really not playing to my strengths by doing so.

Don't argue with stupid people. They'll drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.

[loaf]

I will say this once.

To counter a troll is to not reply to the troll.

DO NOT FEED THE TROLL

[Polk]

Once upon a time there were three billy goats, who were to go up to the hillside to make themselves fat, and the name of all three was "Gruff."

On the way up was a bridge over a cascading stream they had to cross; and under the bridge lived a great ugly troll , with eyes as big as saucers, and a nose as long as a poker.

So first of all came the youngest Billy Goat Gruff to cross the bridge.

"Trip, trap, trip, trap! " went the bridge.

"Who's that tripping over my bridge?" roared the troll .

"Oh, it is only I, the tiniest Billy Goat Gruff , and I'm going up to the hillside to make myself fat," said the billy goat, with such a small voice.

"Now, I'm coming to gobble you up," said the troll.

"Oh, no! pray don't take me. I'm too little, that I am," said the billy goat. "Wait a bit till the second Billy Goat Gruff comes. He's much bigger."

"Well, be off with you," said the troll.

A little while after came the second Billy Goat Gruff to cross the bridge.

Trip, trap, trip, trap, trip, trap, went the bridge.

"Who's that tripping over my bridge?" roared the troll.

"Oh, it's the second Billy Goat Gruff , and I'm going up to the hillside to make myself fat," said the billy goat, who hadn't such a small voice.

"Now I'm coming to gobble you up," said the troll.

"Oh, no! Don't take me. Wait a little till the big Billy Goat Gruff comes. He's much bigger."

"Very well! Be off with you," said the troll.

But just then up came the big Billy Goat Gruff .

Trip, trap, trip, trap, trip, trap! went the bridge, for the billy goat was so heavy that the bridge creaked and groaned under him.

"Who's that tramping over my bridge?" roared the troll.

"It's I! The big Billy Goat Gruff ," said the billy goat, who had an ugly hoarse voice of his own.

"Now I 'm coming to gobble you up," roared the troll.

Well, come along! I've got two spears,
And I'll poke your eyeballs out at your ears;
I've got besides two curling-stones,
And I'll crush you to bits, body and bones.

That was what the big billy goat said. And then he flew at the troll, and poked his eyes out with his horns, and crushed him to bits, body and bones, and tossed him out into the cascade, and after that he went up to the hillside. There the billy goats got so fat they were scarcely able to walk home again. And if the fat hasn't fallen off them, why, they're still fat; and so,

Snip, snap, snout.
This tale's told out.

I like to imagine you have that entire story as well as several other fairy tales memorized.

All I know about trolls is that if you want to get into the boy's hole, you gotta pay the troll toll.

[Sinister]

What I'm seeing here is that there are two types of people who troll. People who use trolling to test the water. As in to see how someone reacts. Which is a very suspicious, elitist and intuitive way of seeing who takes things too seriously and who can "roll with the punches". There's a lot of ego on the internet. A lot. In that way, I think it's a funny, even useful tactic.

Then there are those who let trolling become an obsession...almost an addiction. This is the danger of trolling too often. It becomes a behavior reinforced by a particular response given by the victim. The troll becomes reassured that so long as he gets this response, his actions and behavior are completely justified. Very B.F. Skinner, if you ask me. It brings to mind an image of a rat pressing down a lever to get a food pellet.

These are both distinct from kidding around. Which is an action the initiator takes with the understanding that the recipient will not interpret it the wrong way and will be understood by both parties to have been a joke. In the world of the internet, joke and insult are sometimes only separated by perceived intent. That's why it's such a delicate line to walk.


-Sin

[Block]

I like to imagine you have that entire story as well as several other fairy tales memorized.]

I do good sir, I do indeed.

[Bleachfangirl]

Trolling: Being damn honest even though you're well aware of the dude lurking the thread that'll come barging in the minute he reads your post.

Maybe not that extreme, but still, it sort of fits. Trolling usually manifests in the form of a little joke that's not completely kosher. You know it's funny, and you know most people who aren't too serious about whatever topic is at hand will think it's mildly amusing too, or at least look over your post, and you also know there are going to be some people who won't. If you post it anyway, you be trollin'.

Then there's being a retard. That's a step below troll. That's when you say whatever you want all the time without considering how others might take your words. Those people are also trolls, but more like the ugly kind who have no idea what they're doing.

[Block]

What's a troll?

Troll
–verb (used with object)
1.
to sing or utter in a full, rolling voice.
2.
to sing in the manner of a round or catch.
3.
to fish for or in with a moving line, working the line up or down with a rod, as in fishing for pike, or trailing the line behind a slow-moving boat.
4.
to move (the line or bait) in doing this.
5.
to cause to turn round and round; roll.
6.
Obsolete. to hand around, as a bowl of liquor at table.
–verb (used without object)
7.
to sing with a full, rolling voice; give forth full, rolling tones.
8.
to be uttered or sounded in such tones.
9.
to fish by trolling.
10.
to roll; turn round and round.
11.
to move nimbly, as the tongue in speaking.
–noun
12.
a song whose parts are sung in succession; a round.
13.
the act of trolling.
14.
a lure used in trolling for fish.
15.
the fishing line containing the lure and hook for use in trolling.

see also:

What's a troll?

[Rocky]

Troll
–verb (used with object)
1.
to sing or utter in a full, rolling voice.
2.
to sing in the manner of a round or catch.
3.
to fish for or in with a moving line, working the line up or down with a rod, as in fishing for pike, or trailing the line behind a slow-moving boat.
4.
to move (the line or bait) in doing this.
5.
to cause to turn round and round; roll.
6.
Obsolete. to hand around, as a bowl of liquor at table.
–verb (used without object)
7.
to sing with a full, rolling voice; give forth full, rolling tones.
8.
to be uttered or sounded in such tones.
9.
to fish by trolling.
10.
to roll; turn round and round.
11.
to move nimbly, as the tongue in speaking.
–noun
12.
a song whose parts are sung in succession; a round.
13.
the act of trolling.
14.
a lure used in trolling for fish.
15.
the fishing line containing the lure and hook for use in trolling.

10/10 would read again