I have seen it enough to gather it's context, but it seems like a somewhat new term on here (at least it's pretty new to me). What is a troll (just for clarification sake) and where did the term start?
2007-06-14 07:54:35 · 7 answers · asked by randyken 6 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
its people who are minuplating and testing the authority of yahoo anwers [spamming, people who go thumbs down happy]
you can report them
i think yahoo coined the term in that context.
2007-06-14 07:59:55 · answer #1 · answered by lins 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
In Internet terminology, a troll is someone who intentionally posts derogatory or otherwise inflammatory messages about sensitive topics in an established online community such as an online discussion forum to bait users into responding.
The contemporary use of the term first appeared on Usenet groups in the late 1980s. It is widely thought to be a truncation of the phrase trolling for suckers, itself derived from the sport fishing technique of trolling.
The more likely derivation can be found in the phrase "trolling for newbies," popularized in the early 1990s in the Usenet group, alt.folklore.urban. Commonly, what is meant is a relatively gentle inside joke by veteran users, presenting questions or topics that had been so overdone that only a new user would respond to them earnestly.
2007-06-14 14:58:36 · answer #2 · answered by Iamnotarobot (former believer) 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Hail and Hellos
Rabid Trolls are quite popular on the internet, as we can see by the influx on this particular site. The Bridge Troll, while more widely known, often doesn't have the technology available to get online and harass people in a forum such as this. The lucky few who are able to exact tolls and save up for a laptop can get wireless internet, but they always have issues with someone trip - trapping overhead and it totally screws up the connection.
Let's take up donations to see to it that bridges can be hardwired to DSL accounts and make better internet for all Trolls.
Be well in all things,
Rave
2007-06-14 14:59:48 · answer #3 · answered by Raven Winterstide 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Remember the Three Billy Goats Gruff? The troll wouldn't let them pass? It was basically an ugly creature who lay in wait for a chance to be a jerk. That's what some people do on this site.
Basically, sometimes people just act like trolls. Trolling also implies traveling around looking for a place to cause trouble. See: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/troll
2007-06-14 15:01:32 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
They're people who get their jollies by baiting other people on forums, chat rooms, etc. by means of posting deliberately affronting comments or questions, meant only to annoy, irritate, and offend people, and draw flaming responses... mostly because they think it's "funny". There are quite a few of them here, not surprisingly. I also wouldn't be surprised if most of them really do live under bridges, like their fairy-tale namesakes...
2007-06-14 14:58:35 · answer #5 · answered by ಠ__ಠ 7 · 4⤊ 0⤋
1 star for you. I was wondering the same thing...
2007-06-14 15:07:16 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
based upon Brendan's answer, troll must equal atheist.
2007-06-14 15:06:29 · answer #7 · answered by Yahoo admins are virgins 5 · 0⤊ 2⤋