SLAGATHOR
06-25-2009, 06:21 PM
It has been brought to my attention that the vast majority of you people have no idea what a troll is.
Well, this is Pawn.
So lets go with Pawns definition.
Definitely not. I represent this community now more than ever and I want you guys to all use one of the most common terms the internet has to offer correctly. Trolling is not posting a lot. I hear people on this forum say, "omg, this guy posts so much what a troll". No, he just posts a lot. Maybe he spams a lot, but he/she is certainly not a troll for posting actively.
Here is a very long and detailed, copy-paste'd definition.
----Definition----
An "Internet troll" or "Forum Troll" is a person who posts outrageous message to bait people to answer. Trolls delight in sowing discord on the forums. A troll is someone who inspires flaming rhetoric, someone who is purposely provoking and pulling people into flaming discussion. Flaming discussions usually end with name calling and a flame war.
A classic troll tries to make us believe that he is a skeptic. He is divisive and argumentative with need-to-be-right attitude, "searching for the truth", flaming discussion, and sometimes insulting people or provoking people to insult him. A troll is usually an expert in reusing the same words of its opponents and in turning it against them.
While he tries to present himself as a skeptic looking for truth ... his messages usually sound as if it is the responsibility of other forum members to provide evidence that what forum is all about is legitimate.
He (and in at least 90% of cases it is he) tries to start arguments and upset people.
Sometimes, he is skeptical, trying to scare people, trying to plant fear in their hearts. Sometimes, Internet troll is trying to spin conflicting information, is questioning in an insincere manner, flaming discussion, insulting people, turning people against each other, harassing forum members, ignoring warnings from forum moderators.
Trolling is a form of harassment that can take over a discussion. Well meaning defenders can create chaos by responding to trolls. The best response is to ignore it, or to report a message to a forum moderator. Ubuntuforums moderators usually move troll messages to the jail and may even ban trolls after a few unheeded warnings. Negative emotions stirred up by trolls leak over into other discussions. Normally affable people can become bitter after reading an angry interchange between a troll and his victims, and this can poison previously friendly interactions between long-time users.
Finally, trolls create a paranoid environment, such that a casual criticism by a new arrival can elicit a ferocious and inappropriate backlash.
When trolls are completely ignored they sometimes step up their attacks, desperately seeking the attention they crave. Their messages become more and more foul, and they post ever more of them. Alternatively, they may protest that their right to free speech is being curtailed. Perhaps the most difficult challenge for a moderator is deciding whether to take steps against a troll that a few people find entertaining. Some trolls do have a creative spark and have chosen to squander it on being disruptive. There is a certain perverse pleasure in watching some of them. Ultimately, though, we have to decide if the troll actually cares about putting on a good show for the regular participants, or is simply playing to an audience of one -- himself. For this reason the staff here often intervene, either with a warning in a thread, jailing one or more posts, sending private messages to offenders, and even banning people--temporarily or permanently--from these forums.
As an idea, the next time you see a post by somebody whom you think is a troll, and you feel you must reply, maybe you could just write a follow-up message in the thread entitled "Troll Alert" and type something like this:
The goal of the Ubuntuforums is to provide a place where people wanting to share experiences using Ubuntu or Linux in general can do so as well as give and receive technical assistance in a friendly, pleasant environment. Trolls disturb and disrupt community and are neither welcomed nor tolerated. There are lots of "free speech" forums available for political, religious, "not safe for work" and family-unfriendly sorts of interactions. If you feel the need to troll, please seek out one of these places.
tl;dr? Yeah, me neither.
Here is my definition; Trolling: Inciting(starting) a flame war. A common nick name is 'flame baiting'.
Also, all trolling is flaming in its own sense. Seemingly harmless posts could be trolls.
Example
No, I'm a pirate. Yarr.
Some would consider this just spamming...But the bait was taken, as you can see from one respected user's replies.
or...you're a newfag.
Ding ding ding. We have a winrar!
Sarcasm: one of my favorite methods as a pro troll myself. If a user is being sarcastic to flame you, that is a troll.
Example
Victim: They were de-modded due to inactivity on the forums. :|
Maybe some could figure that out with common sense, but there is no reason to call him out on it.
Perpetrator:
You're pretty smart. I wish I was as smart as you.
I thought it was for a different reason.
Obvious sarcasm, and obvious troll. He basically calls him stupid and I'm surprised the victim didn't take the bait.
And finally, most standard trolling.
You semm like an idiot too. I would say no offense but... it's true.
Flat-out insulting someone.
Credits to: Villyer, ReconXD, Infinit, HardenedWarVet, SneaK, Twilly, and woohoo for serving as examples towards this thread.
Well, this is Pawn.
So lets go with Pawns definition.
Definitely not. I represent this community now more than ever and I want you guys to all use one of the most common terms the internet has to offer correctly. Trolling is not posting a lot. I hear people on this forum say, "omg, this guy posts so much what a troll". No, he just posts a lot. Maybe he spams a lot, but he/she is certainly not a troll for posting actively.
Here is a very long and detailed, copy-paste'd definition.
----Definition----
An "Internet troll" or "Forum Troll" is a person who posts outrageous message to bait people to answer. Trolls delight in sowing discord on the forums. A troll is someone who inspires flaming rhetoric, someone who is purposely provoking and pulling people into flaming discussion. Flaming discussions usually end with name calling and a flame war.
A classic troll tries to make us believe that he is a skeptic. He is divisive and argumentative with need-to-be-right attitude, "searching for the truth", flaming discussion, and sometimes insulting people or provoking people to insult him. A troll is usually an expert in reusing the same words of its opponents and in turning it against them.
While he tries to present himself as a skeptic looking for truth ... his messages usually sound as if it is the responsibility of other forum members to provide evidence that what forum is all about is legitimate.
He (and in at least 90% of cases it is he) tries to start arguments and upset people.
Sometimes, he is skeptical, trying to scare people, trying to plant fear in their hearts. Sometimes, Internet troll is trying to spin conflicting information, is questioning in an insincere manner, flaming discussion, insulting people, turning people against each other, harassing forum members, ignoring warnings from forum moderators.
Trolling is a form of harassment that can take over a discussion. Well meaning defenders can create chaos by responding to trolls. The best response is to ignore it, or to report a message to a forum moderator. Ubuntuforums moderators usually move troll messages to the jail and may even ban trolls after a few unheeded warnings. Negative emotions stirred up by trolls leak over into other discussions. Normally affable people can become bitter after reading an angry interchange between a troll and his victims, and this can poison previously friendly interactions between long-time users.
Finally, trolls create a paranoid environment, such that a casual criticism by a new arrival can elicit a ferocious and inappropriate backlash.
When trolls are completely ignored they sometimes step up their attacks, desperately seeking the attention they crave. Their messages become more and more foul, and they post ever more of them. Alternatively, they may protest that their right to free speech is being curtailed. Perhaps the most difficult challenge for a moderator is deciding whether to take steps against a troll that a few people find entertaining. Some trolls do have a creative spark and have chosen to squander it on being disruptive. There is a certain perverse pleasure in watching some of them. Ultimately, though, we have to decide if the troll actually cares about putting on a good show for the regular participants, or is simply playing to an audience of one -- himself. For this reason the staff here often intervene, either with a warning in a thread, jailing one or more posts, sending private messages to offenders, and even banning people--temporarily or permanently--from these forums.
As an idea, the next time you see a post by somebody whom you think is a troll, and you feel you must reply, maybe you could just write a follow-up message in the thread entitled "Troll Alert" and type something like this:
The goal of the Ubuntuforums is to provide a place where people wanting to share experiences using Ubuntu or Linux in general can do so as well as give and receive technical assistance in a friendly, pleasant environment. Trolls disturb and disrupt community and are neither welcomed nor tolerated. There are lots of "free speech" forums available for political, religious, "not safe for work" and family-unfriendly sorts of interactions. If you feel the need to troll, please seek out one of these places.
tl;dr? Yeah, me neither.
Here is my definition; Trolling: Inciting(starting) a flame war. A common nick name is 'flame baiting'.
Also, all trolling is flaming in its own sense. Seemingly harmless posts could be trolls.
Example
No, I'm a pirate. Yarr.
Some would consider this just spamming...But the bait was taken, as you can see from one respected user's replies.
or...you're a newfag.
Ding ding ding. We have a winrar!
Sarcasm: one of my favorite methods as a pro troll myself. If a user is being sarcastic to flame you, that is a troll.
Example
Victim: They were de-modded due to inactivity on the forums. :|
Maybe some could figure that out with common sense, but there is no reason to call him out on it.
Perpetrator:
You're pretty smart. I wish I was as smart as you.
I thought it was for a different reason.
Obvious sarcasm, and obvious troll. He basically calls him stupid and I'm surprised the victim didn't take the bait.
And finally, most standard trolling.
You semm like an idiot too. I would say no offense but... it's true.
Flat-out insulting someone.
Credits to: Villyer, ReconXD, Infinit, HardenedWarVet, SneaK, Twilly, and woohoo for serving as examples towards this thread.