Troll FAQ

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 jgs (______Y______)


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***What is a troll?

A fisherman would say it means to trail worms through water teeming
with  fish, hoping for a bite.  In newsgroup terminology, it means
pretty much the same thing.

***What is the objective of the troll?

The hobbyist may want nothing more than to provoke a reaction from
the newsgroup.  Some do it merely to call attention to themselves.
There are career trolls who are dedicated to filling newsgroups with
off-topic posts, flames, and general confusion.  Some trolls are
simple, while some are quite elaborate and long-running.  Some
trolls have achieved a degree of infamy.  You can find out who they
are by looking for the word 'troll and usenet' using any search engine.

***Is trolling only for the lonely?

No!  The happiest trolls travel in packs.  The more the merrier.
They give aid and encouragement to one another in their mission to
destroy the newsgroups they infest.

***What are the tools of the trolling trade?

Well, you have asked a big question there.  For the creative and
enterprising troller,  there are just too many to list.  Here's a
brief sampling:

1. Hidden identities work well.  As has been noted in the past, AOL
gives 5 screen names.  Now, those can be used to good advantage.
The troller can appear to be 5 altogether different people as
he/she/it carefully fans the flames.  Seemingly endless off-topic
threads that say nothing and go absolutely nowhere can be
constructed in this fashion. But if someone notices that there seem
to be 'too many' AOLers in the group, there's always:

2. REMAILERS.  You can have all of these you want.  A different
identity for every day of the week. Or, if this isn't anonymous
enough for your purposes, try:

3. ANONYMOUS remailers.  It is said these are not easy to learn how
to work, but well worth the effort to the would-be troller.

4. Cultivate other trollers for *buddies*.  They are handy for
backing up your ludicrous claims and other falsehoods.  They will
add to the general chaos in the newsgroup you are attacking.  You
will have need of your *buddies* as the posts grow further and
further off-topic.

And as the other people in the group begin objecting to your nonsense.

5. Never underestimate the power of e-mail.  A troller can stay just
behind the scenes, but still participate in the fun via e-mail.
That person can use e-mail to encourage others to do their dirty
work.  Posting objectionable comments and so on.  The beauty of
staying disengaged in the nasty on-board comments, is that the
troller's reputation remains dainty.  It's very important to have at
least one troller of the bunch free to appear to smooth things over
with the general population of the group.

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***This is the Help Section for Trollers in Distress***

1. HELP!  I've been identified as a troll!  Whatever will I do?
Call them a troll right back.  (Optional: Get your friends to agree
with you.)

2.  HELP!  I've been accused of making off-topic posts.  Whatever
will I do?

Forthrightly declare that their own posts complaining about you are
off-topic.  Remind them that the group is unmoderated and you can
post anything you please, so there.  Bring out some of your extra
addresses to flame them.

3. HELP!  I've been caught in a lie.

Take your pick:  Change the subject,  claim your posts were tampered
with/nuked, claim the person who is calling you a liar is a liar,
declare that you are afraid of the person, say the person has a
mental problem, say it's a free country and you have the right to
lie if you want to.  Failing all that, get one or all of your
aliases to say it.

4.. HELP!  Nobody likes me.

Well, what did you expect?  Look at what you do for a living.  Grow
a thicker skin.

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Bye,