What Is A Troll

[tomahawk]

I am still fairly new to internet forum and am still not sure what a troll is, and especially why some postings are suspected of being trolls. From what I gather a troll is someone who makes up a story and puts it on internet to get people upset. I do not understand why someone would do this. I also do not know what makes make people suspect that someone is a troll. Recently someone wrote in about a problem which involved domestic violence and some people said he was a troll and perhaps he was but I do not know what caused people to suspect this. I also do not understand about a flame, except I gather it is something insulting. If that is the case I do not understand why some postings are banned for this and others are not as I often see many insulting things on this forum as well as others. My opinion on this trolling thing is that if someone does this it is very harmful as it is not only stupid and wastes people's time, but also makes it difficult for people who have real problems as they will be accused of being a troll. I myself was thinking of writing in to ask for advice about something but, although it is a true problem, it is quite bizarre so I did not do it in order to avoid being suspected of being troll.

[neverdie]

A troll is someone who posts controversial, inflammatory, irrelevant, 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.

[deliverie]

a troll is someone who has a differing opinion from op and isnt afraid to let it be kwown. a trolll also isnt scared to call a silly person silly.

referring to domestic violence thread. the guy asked what he should do when all along he knew he wasnt going to do anything, just to stip up junk! this is a poster who thrives on improper sympathy from others who feel SO bad at his situation. beaten kids but posters feel for mr menny( the poor feeble sod).

[LawnGnome]

Aren't you a cheeky little monkey, trying to troll and produce flames in the same post.

[Lite Beer]

Taken from the forum rules.

4) Not to flame fellow members.

Flaming will not be tolerated. 'Flaming' is defined as posting or responding to a message in a way clearly intended to incite useless arguments, to launch personal attacks, to insult, or to be hateful towards other members. This includes useless criticism, name-calling, swearing and any other comments meant to incite anger.

5) Not to post inflammatory messages on the forum, or attempt to disrupt discussions to upset its participants, or trolling.

Trolling can be defined as the act of purposefully antagonizing other people on the internet by posting controversial, inflammatory, irrelevant or off-topic messages with the primary intent of provoking other users into an emotional response or to generally disrupt normal on-topic discussion.

Post No.3 would be a good example.