1. v.,n. [From the Usenet group
alt.folklore.urban] To utter a
posting on Usenet designed to attract predictable
responses or flames; or, the post itself. Derives
from the phrase trolling for newbies
which in turn comes from mainstream trolling
, a style of
fishing in which one trails bait through a likely spot hoping for a bite.
The well-constructed troll is a post that induces lots of newbies and
flamers to make themselves look even more clueless than they already do,
while subtly conveying to the more savvy and experienced that it is in fact
a deliberate troll. If you don't fall for the joke, you get to be in on
it. See also YHBT.
2. n. An individual who
chronically trolls in sense 1; regularly posts specious arguments, flames
or personal attacks to a newsgroup, discussion list, or in email for no
other purpose than to annoy someone or disrupt a discussion. Trolls are
recognizable by the fact that they have no real interest in learning about
the topic at hand - they simply want to utter flame bait. Like the ugly
creatures they are named after, they exhibit no redeeming characteristics,
and as such, they are recognized as a lower form of life on the net, as in,
Oh, ignore him, he's just a troll.
Compare
kook.
3. n. [Berkeley] Computer lab monitor. A popular campus job for CS students. Duties include helping newbies and ensuring that lab policies are followed. Probably so-called because it involves lurking in dark cavelike corners.
Some people claim that the troll (sense 1) is properly a narrower category than flame bait, that a troll is categorized by containing some assertion that is wrong but not overtly controversial. See also Troll-O-Meter.
The use of ‘troll’ in any of these senses is a live
metaphor that readily produces elaborations and combining forms. For
example, one not infrequently sees the warning Do not feed the
troll
as part of a followup to troll postings.