NYT Explores the World of Internet Trolls

prostoalex writes "New York Times magazine explores the history and status quo of Internet trolling. They look at the early days of Usenet trolling, current anonymous forums, and social networking pages as the latest venues for trolls: 'In the late 1980s, Internet users adopted the word troll to denote someone who intentionally disrupts online communities. Early trolling was relatively innocuous, taking place inside of small, single-topic Usenet groups. The trolls employed what the M.I.T. professor Judith Donath calls a pseudo-naïve tactic, asking stupid questions and seeing who would rise to the bait. The game was to find out who would see through this stereotypical newbie behavior, and who would fall for it. As one guide to trolldom puts it, If you don't fall for the joke, you get to be in on it.'"

Comments

Re:What's the difference?

[Profane MuthaFucka]

In Cmdr. Taco's mind, they are different, but nobody knows how. In practice, a "troll" moderation is a way to call someone a name. A "flamebait" moderation means that someone was offended by your post. They probably DESERVED to be offended by your post.

Also, Overrated means you have a tiny cock. Interesting means that there was nothing better to do than to read your lame post. Insightful means that you cut and pasted from an Ann Coulter column. Funny means someone completely missed your point. Informative means you are king of the geeks.