The Northern California Fly Fishing Board

well, now that winter has set in. folks gonna be doin less
fishin, This may result in more "trolls" on the board, so
I thought I would pass sum thoughts....

Exactly what is a troll?

  To "Post" a posting on a board to
attract predictable responses or flames. Derives from the
phrase "trolling for newbies"; which in turn comes from
mainstream "trolling";, a style of fishing in which one
trails bait through a likely spot hoping for a bite. The
well-constructed troll is a post that induces lots of newbies
and flamers to make themselves look even more clueless.
If you don't fall for the joke, you get to be in on it.

  A "troll" is not a grumpy monster that lives beneath a
bridge accosting passers-by, but rather a provocative posting
to an audience intended to produce a large volume of frivolous
responses. The content of a "troll" posting generally falls
into several areas. It may consist of an apparently foolish
contradiction of common knowledge, a deliberately offensive
insult to the readers of a BB (Bulliten Board) or a broad request
for trivial follow-up postings.

Designing a Troll


A troll is no different to any other posting. That needs to
be stressed. Any article that you decide to write should be
written with a view to it actually being read by large numbers
of people. Simply X-posting to large numbers of irrelevant
groups is not creative trolling - it is just spam and should be avoided.

The experienced troller spends time carefully choosing the right
subject and delivering it to the right group. With trolls,
delivery is just as important as the subject.

Start the troll in a reasonable and erudite manner. You have
to engage your readers' interest and draw them in. Never give
too much away at the start - although a brief abstract with
hints of what's to come can work wonders.

Construct your troll in a manner to make it readable. Use short
paragraphs and lots of white space. Keep line length below
eighty characters. Use a liberal amount of emphasis and even
the occasional illustration. A good rule of thumb is that as
your troll becomes more and more ludicrous put extra effort
into the presentation - this keeps the mug punter confused.
Let confusion and chaos be your goal!

Content

Make your subject a relevant one. Posting "Star Trek Sucks"
into NCFFB is not going to work very well and is liable to
utterly destroy your hard earned reputation as a troller
overnight. (Note this may be debaitable given our group)

You do not have to make the subject clear. Trolls are aimed
at two audiences, the respondees and the lurkers. The best
trolls reveal their true subject only to the lurkers. In
every sense those who reply to your troll are your tools.
So choose a theme for your troll and stick to it.

Outwardly you need to appear sincere, but at the same time
you have to tell your *real* audience that this is blatant
flamebait. Your skill is shown in the easy way that you
manipulate large areas of the Board community into making
public fools of themselves. 

Know Your Audience

Remember that you have two audiences. The people who are
going to get the maximum enjoyment out of your post are
other trollers. You need to keep in contact with them through
both your troll itself and the way you direct its effect. It
is trollers that you are trying to entertain so be creative -
trollers don't just want a laugh from you they want to see
good trolls so that they can also learn how to improve their
own in the never ending search for the perfect troll.

The other audience is of course the folks in those
groups that your are attacking. Get to know them.
Research your targets and learn what their arguments
are. Then avoid those arguments like the plague. Drag them
off-topic - the further off-topic the better. Remember, you
are trying to waste their time. Never take sides -
remember that your goal is not to win an argument, rather
it is to provoke a futile one that runs forever.

The more confusion the less the likelihood of your troll
being exposed for what it is.

Following-Up

"Even if this is true......"

That represents the perfect response to any troll. The mark
of a gullible lunatic that will almost certainly believe
anything you tell him/her
A total group embarrassment. Award yourself a Troll Gold
Star every time you get one!

Other good responses include, but are not limited to....

"Although this is on-topic....."

"I disagree...."

"Yes, but....."

"Can you provide a source for this...."

Try not to follow-up to your own troll. The troll itself
quickly becomes forgotten in the chaos and if you just sit
back you can avoid being blamed for causing it. Remember,
if you do follow up you are talking to an idiot. Treat them
with the ill-respect they deserve.

You should also learn to recognise follow-ups from your fellow
trollers. Sometimes an average troll can be elevated into
majestic proportions when several trollers spontaneously
join forces via the medium of the follow up troll.

Ignore cries of wasted bandwidth! This is pure drivel that
will always be posted by the anti-troll lobby.

hummm.,..seems I've heard that before....

laughs

Carpy

ps; I found most of this at, not being a troller myself



http://www.../troll/trollfaq.html#one

Messages In This Thread

Trolling...(very long post) Non FF - Carpy 11/14/00 10:39 a.m.

Re: Trolling...(very long post) Non FF - GM 11/14/00 10:51 a.m.

Damn!..spent all night tying Panther Martin imitations!..n/m - Ho-Dad 11/14/00 11:02 a.m.

Man o man - Rib 11/14/00 11:08 a.m.

Readers Digest Version Needed N/M - skirt 11/14/00 11:20 a.m.

PS: Weird - skirt 11/14/00 11:23 a.m.

Re: Trolling...(very long post) Non FF - Birddog 11/14/00 11:24 a.m.

Troll, troll, troll your boat......... - Ukiah Charlie 11/14/00 11:42 a.m.

Gotcha - Ben Fishin 11/14/00 12:00 p.m.

Gotta laugh! - Gillie72 11/14/00 12:54 p.m.

Hey, didn't I just read this yesterday? - Silent Reader 11/14/00 1:51 p.m.

Peta's post, above, was a good troll! - Silent Reader 11/14/00 1:56 p.m.

good troll??.. - Carpy 11/14/00 2:09 p.m.

Never consciously... - Silent Reader 11/14/00 3:26 p.m.