Geoff Burling wrote:
On Mon, 2 Feb 2004, Delirium wrote:
The problem I have with that is that it's very unclear what a "troll" is. Any number of Wikipedians have been accused of being "trolls" at one point or another. Some cases are very clear-cut, but the majority aren't, and in many cases, "troll" becomes simply shorthand for "person I disagree with".
The term "troll" comes from the verb "to troll" as in "The fishermen trolled for cod." Someone who trolls in a newsgroup or a forum is attempting to get another person to bite an obviously incindinary comment.
I'm aware of that; what I was saying is that it's often unclear who is trolling and who legitimately holds incendiary opinions. On particularly controversial issues (Israel/Palestine, the Polish/German naming, etc.), people often call their opponents "trolls" when it's usually not justified.
-Mark