What is a troll by the way? [offtopic]

[steve_w at localhost.localdomain]

On Sat, 21 Aug 1999 00:32:39 +0000, Chad Netzer wrote:
>Robert Kern wrote:
>
>> _Troll_ is a USENET term for someone that deliberately posts an
>> inflammatory message simply to stir up argument.
>
>I've found it funny to watch this term evolve over the past few years.
>It started (I believe) as a reference to the fishing term, and used to
>mean "trolling for flames" (ie. hoping to bring flames to the
>discussion), perhaps employing "flame bait" for this purpose.
>
Actually, the first and best sort of trolling was extremely subtle.
The idea was to insert some subtle flaws into a posting, usually
in the midst of a flamewar, to elicit the automatic followups from
folks that are too fast with the followup button, in order to expose
this tendency.

Steve Wall
 
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