On Jan 9, 2005, at 11:47 PM, Sean Barrett wrote:
To ensure the security of our trolls as well as our serious correspondents, please observe the following safety precautions:
Trolls are wild. Please stay on the visitor paths, observe posted signs and do not reach into or climb on exhibits.
Please do not throw things at the trolls.
Please do not feed the trolls.
Making loud noises may startle the trolls.
Thank you for your cooperation. _______________________________________________ Wikipedia-l mailing list Wikipedia-l@Wikimedia.org http://mail.wikipedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikipedia-l
I was just about tempted last night to create a template Template:Troll
"Warning! This page has become infested by a family of [[Troll(wikipedia) | Trolls]]. Readers are warned that certain crank/fanatic/extremists/down right apeshit looney POVs are over represented on this page, and using it as a reference for a term paper will get you put on academic probation. Editors are warned that the trolls are organized, armed, and extremely hostile."
More seriously, wiki is going to have to think about how to deal with organized groups of trolls trying to steal a page for their propaganda purposes. This is different than individual trolls. Current mechanisms allow organized trolls to circumvent just about every protection, since at any given time they will be the consensus on the page.
This is important because there are large well funded groups out there that are already targeting wikipedia (whose existence and use has not gone unnoticed in political circles). And when they arrive, it will be a shock wave.