For our purposes, except when used inappropriately as an insult or as a way of harrassing folks who disagree with you, these are the operative definitions: Fred

Mark Richards wrote community or who intends to be entertained at the expense of others, these are the operative definitions: you. I may be getting middle-aged and pompous, but I see nothing amusing here. Gresham's Law applies to Internet dialogue; trolls (not those who simply hold strong views) are the counterfeiters. Of course edit warriors reach for the T- and V- words. Charles

-----Original Message----- From: wikien-l-bounces(a)Wikipedia.org [mailto:wikien-l-bounces@Wikipedia.org] On Behalf Of Mark Richards Sent: Thursday, 11 November 2004 10:53 PM To: English Wikipedia Subject: [Norton AntiSpam] Re: [WikiEN-l] Troll? For our purposes, except when used as someone intending to destroy the community or who intends to be entertained at the expense of others, these are the operative definitions: 1. Troll is a word used inappropriately as an insult; 2. Calling someone a troll is a way of harrassing folks who disagree with you. ;) Fred Bauder <fredbaud(a)ctelco.net> wrote: For our purposes, except when used inappropriately as an insult or as a way of harrassing folks who disagree with you, these are the operative definitions: other Fred _______________________________________________ WikiEN-l mailing list WikiEN-l(a)Wikipedia.org http://mail.wikipedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikien-l __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ WikiEN-l mailing list WikiEN-l(a)Wikipedia.org http://mail.wikipedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikien-l

NSK wrote meanings: administrators. Oh, do be quiet. 'Troll' has a definite meaning; 1 and 2 have nothing to do with it. Charles

Yes, in internet usage, a "troll" is usually someone who posts "flamebait" to a discussion. That is, they will state something that is highly controversial in order to elicit a strong reaction to it, typically a reaction against it. They are (usually) disliked because they are seen as just stirring up arguments for the sake of stirring up arguments. Occasionally, the troll might just be trying to get someone else's hidden opinion out into the open. "Don't feed the trolls" basically means don't take the bait, don't encourage a troll by participating in the argument they were trying to start. Not feeding the trolls is generally good advice and just good netiquette. -- sockmonk

sockmonk(a)gmail.com wrote: This is more in line with how I understand the term in an internet context. It allows for the fact that not all trolling is evil. Ec

Charles Matthews wrote: Of course bad faith trolling is not to be condoned, but the same can't be said of good faith trolling when it succeeds in waking people up. Ec

Charles Matthews wrote: I agree that fisherman are competent at baiting their hooks. I would never have taken the participants on this list to be complacent; if anything, they have a tendency for the other extreme. We're full of Humpty Dumptys whose words mean exactly what they choose them to mean - neither more nor less. I would not consider my consideration of a word to be so lofty as to require "special" pleading. If a pleading it be, I would think it more properly directed to the pleasures of language, and to an appreciation of the subtleties that light a contrary meaning in a sky of darkness. "Wretched," yes. It is important to be charitable towa\rd those wallowing hippo wretches on the litoral of the litteral sea. :-) Ec

Mark Richards wrote You make it sound as if you have never come across an actual troll. Like I said, the term is consistently misused. Like I said, I see nothing funny or interesting in blurring its actual denotation. It is remarkably helpful to distinguish between rhetorical proponents of strongly-held views, and trolls who (as far as I can see) actually are dependent in a psychological sense on confrontational argument. The difference between needing to see that others hold sincere opposing views, and needing help. Charles