Are you a troll?

[LoZoccolo]

Being mean online. We've probably all done it at some time, but is it really necessary? And is it getting out-of-hand?

In internet slang, someone who posts an inflammatory, controversial, extraneous or off-topic message to an online forum, generally anonymously, is called a "troll".

As noted in this article, there seems to be a disturbing tendency by some to single out and humiliate others on the web.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/blogs/connector/3331001/Are-you-a-troll

[REP]

1. I'm REP in real life; also mean(er) in real life, but live in a town house.

[Hawkeye-X]

37. I remember when I called you a Republican

and found out it was just your initials.

Much love, sister, and I'm still apologizing to this day.

Hawkeye-X

[REP]

40. I'm still SO MAD!!!1! I'd forgotten all about it!

:hi: :hug:

[smalll]

2. I'm not just a troll, I'm a PAID troll -

I make quite a respectable income posting on DU in the interests of a shadowy pro-corporate BFEE entity. Do you think I would troll for free?
;)

[NYC_SKP]

26. I'm a paid troll AND I have a great benefits package and my own parking spot. n/t

[Robb]

30. You got a parking spot?

You bastard. And here I thought I was a genius for negotiating dental.

[cliffordu]

47. That's not a parking spot, sparky.

It's the drive through lane at that liquor store next door.

[NYC_SKP]

59. Fuck, that's not what management told me!

No wonder I keep getting towed and there's vomit on my windscreen every Sunday morning.

[DevonRex]

53. Heh. I'll let you keep that parking spot as long as you post a million gazillion

posts a day from now until 2012. Yeah, I OWN the parking garage. It was one of the perks in my last bonus package.

[Sanity Claws]

3. No. I'm a banshee

I hate visiting trolls. They live under bridges and their homes are always wet.

[TexasObserver]

4. Unrecommend.

[cherokeeprogressive]

5. No. I'm a Turtle.

You bet your sweet ass I am.

[LoZoccolo]

18. Your post brings to mind something from 2003.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=690769#692488

[cherokeeprogressive]

23. Different kind of turtle. In order to become one, you must first correctly answer four questions...

What's a four letter word ending in K that means "intercourse"?

What does a man do standing up, a woman sitting down, and a dog do on three legs?

What does a cow have four of that a woman only has two of?

What's round, hard, and sticks far enough out of man's pajamas to hang a hat on?

If you answer those four questions correctly, you too can be a Turtle.

You bet your sweet ass you can.

[billh58]

27. Uh, I'll take

a shot:

Talk, shake hands, legs, his head.

You bet your sweet ass I am...;-)

[cherokeeprogressive]

28. Congratulations, My Friend.

You are actually the first person I've ever initiated into the Order.

24 more and I can finally call myself a Snapping Turtle.

Well... That only took about thirty years...

[billh58]

29. LOL! n/t

[pipi_k]

6. I used to be a troll, but then I converted to garden gnome n/t

[DevonRex]

55. They're so much cuter, aren't they? And they can travel.

:rofl:

[Warren Stupidity]

7. I'm a splinterist!

[BrklynLiberal]

8. They are e-bullies. And have the anonymity of the internet to hide behind

[RKP5637]

11. +1, n/t

[virgogal]

9. IMHO trolls are people with no lives, Juvenile behaviour.Waste of time.

[The Straight Story]

10. I am just a jackass that most people here would like to go away

but decided to stay just to make their lives miserable :)

[Fla_Democrat]

12. Hellz no, I hate the horde

I'm a Nelf. :rofl:

[Political Heretic]

15. Shit... I get that. I award myself +75 loser points.

:D

[Cid_B]

32. Right there with you...

[Arkana]

46. Fucking nelf.

Dwarves are SO much better.

Oh god, I need a life.

[Fla_Democrat]

52. Shadowmeld, FTW

:headbang:


:pals:

[Enrique]

13. what's a drive-by?

is that like every thread certain people start?

[LoZoccolo]

17. On some Japanese-style anonymous message boards, it's considered a breach of ettiquite...

...to put your own opinion in the original post, and when you post it as a reply, you are supposed to "sage" the post, which means reply with an option not to kick it to the top of the most recent list. I think they are interesting and polite practices; I don't always like to make a thread be about me.

[Political Heretic]

14. Shutup fatty.

[mwb970]

16. I've only trolled once, but it was a doozy!

It was just last Tuesday, and I did it by mistake. I saw a somewhat ambivalent article about $arah Palin on the "Human Events" website with only one comment after it. Not realizing that this is a rabidly right-wing wacko site, I posted a comment making a few points critical of $arah. When some comments appeared criticizing me and my remarks, I posted a few more times, got more flak, and gave up.

Long story short: Now it's almost a week later and there are well over 500 comments to that article. About two-thirds of them, maybe more, are mean, nasty diatribes about me and how awful I am, and there are quite a few about Obama and how awful he is. (Remember, the actual article is about $arah Palin, not me or Obama.) The principal defense of Palin offered here is the non sequitur that Obama once said "57 states".

Here's the article. I'm the infamous, hated "OhioGuy".

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=35716&page=1

[Lautremont]

22. Good job!

You stirred up a hornets' nest, that's for sure. But they had some pretty pithy comebacks, like "I do not expect you to understand. Surfice to say, You Are Wrong!"

Surfice to say, They Are Stupid!

[Cetacea]

19. Dumb fish here.

[northofdenali]

20. Nah. I'm a gnome. n/t

[pipi_k]

25. Sorry, there's not enough room in this thread for two gnomes...

Water pistols.

High noon.

On the DU home page.


Be there...

[jgraz]

34. But if you worked together, think about all the underpants you could steal.

Step 3: PROFIT!

[pipi_k]

43. Because I'm still a beginner gnome...

I have to ask...

Do gnomes have to sell all the underpants they steal?

Because I'd like to start a collection...

[northofdenali]

41. Your noon or mine?

:rofl:

Heck with water. Let's use kool-aid. That way we'll waste some so the wingnuts can't drink it!

[pipi_k]

44. Hmmm...now that's a problem...how about noon GMT...

Bring whatever flavor you like best. I'm partial to raspberry myself.

Maybe instead of shooting at each other, we can team up and knock a few wingnuts off the shitwagon

:fistbump:

[northofdenali]

48. I'm in Palin Country -

PLENTY of good anti-koolaid targets here!!

:fistbump::toast::fistbump:

[leeroysphitz]

21. Good trolling is an art form. Not many good ones left. n/t

[saltpoint]

24. Speaking strictly for myself, no. I honor the sheer wits of the

three billygoats in outsmarting said troll.

Would that there were fewer bridges on this earth.

[donco6]

31. Some here use the term bed bug

I'm sure they mean it humorously.

[akbacchus_BC]

33. But I don't get paid, LOL

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

35. Big pharma, vaccine peddling shill troll here.

At least according to some.

[jdp349]

36. I'm an orc!

For the horde!

[flvegan]

38. Another LoZo classic! Take a bow.

*cue LoZo telling me I've done exactly that to wit he's posted*

[AlienGirl]

39. No, I'm an elf. Sperethiel at +2.

[semillama]

42. No, I'm from the Upper Peninsula. n/t

[Arkana]

45. No, I'm a night elf.

[dionysus]

49. no, but Oasis is the shittiest beatles cover band that ever was...

[Turbineguy]

50. I'm a

Bridge Troll.

[Jankyn]

51. No, I'm an elf. N/T

[superduperfarleft]

54. Being mean does not necessarily mean one's a troll.

A troll has to intentionally start a shitstorm for nothing more than his or her own amusement (much like most of your threads). Being a prick is a completely different thing.

[bridgit]

58. Pft, no shit, if that were the case over half of DU is filled with trolls and when you factor...

The passive aggressions and the aggregate of features DUers lourde over others flaunting their mean spirited-ness *on* the board, "I can't seeee youuuu cause I have you on 'ig-no-ure' nee-ner nee-ner neeeee-ner!!!!" Then this whole place could do better by being run through a flea dip :):(

[DevonRex]

56. No. I am the troll BOSS.

:rofl:

[PVnRT]

57. Irony alert