Does Trolling Really Exist?

[Kramerman]

I dunno, but to me it seems it is just a figment most of the time. I have a feeling that once people start to noticeablely lose an arguement or debate, they then take it to the extreme, in order to say, "oh, i was just trolling..." instead of admitting defeat. They use Trolling as a cover up to their true stupidity.

Or maybe im wrong. Maybe there are people who derive sick and sadistic pleasure from frustrating others with mock-hatred, stuborness, and stupidity. But im gonna stick to my hunch that trollers are just people looking for an escape out of a failed arguement, most of the time. Im not talking about those one liners mind you, but trolls that are lengthy and numerous posts.

thoughts?

[Lefty Scaevola]

Trolling is much more commonly an accusation, rather than an excuse.

[Bereta_Eder]

It's more comfortable to label someone as a troll than admiting he's right. People label someone as a troll when they lose their arguments.

[Chemical Ollie]

Can someone explain trolling to a person not familiar with every English slang word? Trolling to me means "drag the lure behind the boat and wait for the fish to bite".

[raghar]

When eep didn't post on comp.games.development.design It was sad day. And these days are withou spencer hignes and others, on history.medieval . Well everyone is wondering where are that fine trolls.

[Dinner]

Originally posted by paiktis22
It's more comfortable to label someone as a troll than admiting he's right. People label someone as a troll when they lose their arguments.

You TROLL!

[Lorizael]

Originally posted by Olaf HÃ¥rfagre
Can someone explain trolling to a person not familiar with every English slang word? Trolling to me means "drag the lure behind the boat and wait for the fish to bite".

Wow, that's surprisingly close to the definition being used here. When someone is trolling a thread, they are posting specifically inflammatory comments with the hope that they will provoke even more inflammatory responses. Basically, trolls are just trying to piss people off.

[raghar]

Originally posted by Olaf HÃ¥rfagre
Can someone explain trolling to a person not familiar with every English slang word? Trolling to me means "drag the lure behind the boat and wait for the fish to bite".

5. What is a Troll?

On Usenet, a Troll is someone who posts messages in newsgroups with the deliberate intent of provoking flames or heated discussion or, in the case of a destructive troll, an attempt to destroy the group.

[Buck Birdseed]

I know I have genuinely trolled several times.

Anyway, it hardly a phenomenon that's restricted to the internet...

[GePap]

I always imagined the origin of trolling to come from Troll (the creature) and never once imagined that it could come from the fishing term...weird.

Usually, when I see someone call soemthing a troll, they found something offensive or inflammatory, and its their way of denouncing it without addressing it. Like the "troll rating"

[Stefu]

Ahh, I remember trolling Finland's pre-eminent teen chatroom at kiss.fm... Namely playing a hardcore Christian in the goth/satanist section.

I have a feeling they didn't like me.

I tried the same in the RPG area but it wasn't as fun.

[Bereta_Eder]

LINK!?

[Ned]

I actually think Bill Clinton and Al Gore were trolling when they accused Republicans of killing children every time some policy difference came up on virtually anything. Remember that?

[Bereta_Eder]

Actually I have thought of trolling when looking at some of our politicians debating.

They are master trolls.

[Flubber]

I think that trolling definitely exists. At least I hope it exists given the stupidity and ignorance of some posts.

I think it backfires whenever the troll gets involved in increasingly lengthy posts to defend their original trolling position. Then it is a question of who is trolling whom.