Out of Pod Experience

So, I've been around since the BBS days. Always loved the internet. The entiretly of human knowledge, entertainment, and pron in my house. Awesome.

But over the last 5 years, it feels like the "culture" of the internet has changed. Namely, the idea of "trolling" as entertainment.

And I just don't get it.

I grant, I'm an old guy, and don't get a lot of trends. But this one confuses me more than most.

"Hah! I told you a lie that will upset people who believe it"

Is it really just that? The enjoyment of an attempt at ruining someone else's mood?

I'm not mad, this isn't a rant, people gonna peep, et cetera. I just honestly don't "get it"

So, please, introspective young people - enlighten me?

Edit to add: Yes, I know the idea of the internet troll massively predates even the internet. But they used to be an emotionally crippled minority, which I got. Broken people do broken things. Now they're the socially accepted norm, and normal people are doing broken things, which is my confusion.

Hi,

I think that there has always been two definitions of trolling.

1) being the clown that plays on the fact that even his/her most ridiculous statements are being taken seriously.

2) a person who joins an existing group or discussion forum, only to get people all riled up until there is no group cohesion or normal discussion possible.

This may stem from the fact that victims of 1) feel like they are victims of 2).

Would you agree ? Discuss !

Trolls are a myth, they don't exist here or anywhere else on the internet

It's all part of the conspiracy

I do not understand it either.

Essentially, I think it is people who are so absolutely dissatisfied with their lives that they have to bring everyone else down into their gutter.

It's verbal (and textual) bullying, and no mistake. Probably they were bullied themselves when younger and just have to 'get back', now that we have the anonymity of the Internet which provides the perfect screen to hide behind to say whatever one wants (note how this has allowed the rise of 'intelligent design' and other crap topics).

It's a sad state of affairs that's for sure.

confirmed, I am trolled

Sorry, that statement was unclear. Within the culture and society of the internet, they're considered an accepted norm. I agree it's behavior that's still recognized as outside of the convention out in meatworld.

People don't seem to know what a troll is either... that guy wasn't a troll, that was some fat guy that spammed pron.

When the true troll trolls, no one knows that they're being trolled by a troll

It passes the time

people associate the term "troll" with the mountain-dwelling Gimli variety, as in behaving ugly like a mountain troll

but in my opinion it's more of the fishing variety, where you cast your net, toss over some chum, and wait for someone to bite

the intent is to elicit an emotional response out of a person or people, whose epithets are preserved in text for the viewing pleasure of any witnesses, and the challenge is not receiving a censure from the mods for being disruptive.

the most successful trolls will fill people with conviction, and their posts will remain without so much as an "edited by.."

some trolls are meant to evoke righteous indignance, others are targeted to a certain individual or group, and the beauty of the troll is in its effectiveness.

some trolls are so skillfully crafted, that those who are provoked by it would never give it a "like," and those who recognize it for its brilliance wouldn't dare disturb its beauty with one.

trolling is an art.

If the troll's score for inflammatory content is plotted on the horizontal of a graph and its success is plotted on the vertical, then calculating the total area of the troll yields the measure of its greatness.