Huckleberries Online

Poolman: A troll is…

Posted by Cindy

Dec. 23, 2009 8:36 a.m. • 18 comments

“You see, a troll is one who never provides any intelligent thought provoking or humorous comments and only focuses on criticizing others. It really requires very little effort or skill to be a troll.” Full comment here.

Poolman’s definition works for me, how about you?

18 comments on this post so far. Add yours!

otisgexperience on December 23 at 8:41 a.m.
And if you spin them between your hands super fast, they have crazy hair.
Cindy_H on December 23 at 8:42 a.m.
((otisg)) made me spill my coffee :-)
mike_s on December 23 at 8:53 a.m.
Cindy, real classy way to start the day. How much are they paying you? Fifty bucks a day, no benefits. Or are you just filling in out of the goodness of your strong Christian heart?

I’ll leave the inbreeding to you, poolboy and the rest of the gang, it is time for a Merry Christmas as I have a little shopping left to do. Enjoy yourselves, but play nice.

/ducks out the door
Phaedrus on December 23 at 9:01 a.m.
Would whoever is peeing in mike_s’ Cheerios please stop. Thank you.
Cindy_H on December 23 at 9:01 a.m.
Merry Christmas Mike!
Fixer on December 23 at 9:03 a.m.
“/ducks out the door”…having made Poolman’s point
Cindy_H on December 23 at 9:03 a.m.
Obviously, he didn’t see the tip cup on my desk :-(
poolman on December 23 at 9:04 a.m.
Aww come on MikeS - we were just getting to know each other…
LukeB on December 23 at 9:15 a.m.
The best trolls are almost impossible to detect. Their comments are carefully crafted to get the biggest rise out of the other commenters in the thread.
mike_s on December 23 at 9:24 a.m.
True Luke, I’ve never considered myself a very good troll. When I start getting warmed up DFO always shuts me down.

It’s easier to identify the Sacred Cows and poke the comments in their direction.

Merry Christmas all, especially Phaedrus!
Fixer on December 23 at 9:25 a.m.
Speaking of trolls, my mom just sent my girlfriend a troll for Christmas. A used one. Not in its box. I think there’s a deeper meaning there…
Cindy_H on December 23 at 9:27 a.m.
Omigosh, Fixer. This is not a good sign. Makes sure there aren’t any pins sticking out of it anywhere!
Fixer on December 23 at 9:31 a.m.
No problem, Cindy. I’ll let her play with the Tonka dump truck my mother sent me. I’m hoping these are joke gifts…
Sisyphus on December 23 at 9:33 a.m.
In Internet slang, a troll is someone who posts controversial, inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum, chat room or blog, with the primary intent of provoking other users into an emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion.

Don’t tell BillH but that’s the wiki definition.
Phaedrus on December 23 at 9:58 a.m.
Merry Christmas Mike!
BillH on December 23 at 5:19 p.m.
That’s ok Sis, this is a perfectly nonscientific, “trivial pursuits” kind of situation that just begs for a wiki definition, and you did it quite well. ;-)

I’m especially glad that they added the bit about intent… that is difficult to determine sometimes. Poor writing, lousy day at the office, flat sense of humor, and plain old “odd personality” have all been misdiagnosed as trollish behavior, and at times, like someone above mentioned, we’ve all slipped into it. The old bbs days expedient of using an occassional smiley face or an apology just doesn’t get it anymore, and in some crowds, “once trollish, never forgiven” seems to be the rule. Of course, I think the disposability and anonymity of ‘nyms has contributed to it. Your mileage may vary.
mike_s on December 23 at 5:31 p.m.
Is it possible for there to be multiple trolls working the same thread? Seems like that could be problematic, especially if one is as weak and pathetic as Poolboy.
Stickman on December 26 at 3:56 p.m.
Mike_s: I’m not sure where you came from, but you are accomplishing your mission.

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D.F. Oliveria is a columnist and blogger for The Spokesman-Review. Huckleberries Online was judged the best 2008 Idaho newspaper blog by the Idaho Press Club. And the best 2007 news blog in the Pacific Northwest by the Society for Professional Journalist. Print Huckleberries is a past winner of the Herb Caen Memorial Column contest by the National Association of Newspaper Columnists. The Readership Institute of Northwestern University cited this blog as a good example of online community journalism.