?All vigorous debates shade into trolling at the perimeter; it is next to impossible to excise the trolling without snuffing out the debate."
The above is a quote from the long New York Time story on trolling that NJSCFAN referred to in the "I Am Published" thread.
Until today I had never considered the fact that we probably have trolls among us in the TUSCL discussion board.
That being said, we have at least three trolls on this board.
The dumbest is certainly MisterGay who never even tries to contribute anything beyond flames.
A close 2nd in terms of dumbness (but a clear first in terms of rabidity) is parody, who is at least "clever" enough to try and make 1 in 20 of his posts somewhat on topic. (Even though he is too gutless to take a stand on anything, and will always side with the safe "liberal" position.)
njcsfan is probably the most skillful troll (but still not very good to some of the real pros we used to see on USENET). He can often make on topic and even good posts. He still can't stand the heat head on, however, and will resort to lying and flaming when he feels his knees start to give way. His biggest weakness are his short fuse, poor memory, and just his general belief that no one will ever ask him to back his arguments up (b/c when the later happens they immediately fall apart).
It was quite easy for me to bust each of them.
Personally I wish there were more talented trolls here. The existing ones presenting no challenge with even a basic grasp of elementary logic.
"Until today I had never considered the fact that we probably have trolls among us in the TUSCL discussion board."
Wow, you really didn't know that trolls existed before? It will take at least a month IMO to get rid of Bobby-boy by ignoring his threads & what-not, but it'll be worth it though. In another thread, he basically admitted that he was a troll and what his many motivations were...it's was very odd... He really is a legend in his own mind.
Do I shy from an argument? Of course not, but having a strong opinion on certain topics does not make one a troll. The idea that other people that have contributed literally dozens of reviews on this website aren't pulling their own weight is just silly. I doubt that p-man is "liberal" either...lol...
I am nether liberal or conservative. I think for myself. Pick an issue and I'll give you my honest opinion. Sometimes you may be surprised by my stance on things.
Hey, parodyman: I guess you were dead on when you you posted you were "nether". Let's for today pick "Spelling" as an issue, you nimrod!
Shrek,
I'll put my typos up against your dull grasp of the language any day.
If you ask me, a troll is someone who tries to hide his or her allegiance or identity, but rather gives it away by making certain fishy comments or trying to even pit others against each other.
There very common on College Football forums or sports forums in general.
is or isnt someone who tries to hide?
and THEY are in sports forums?
"Application of the term troll is highly subjective. Some readers may characterize a post as trolling, while others may regard the same post as a legitimate contribution to the discussion, even if controversial. The term is often used to discredit an opposing position, or its proponent, by argument fallacy ad hominem."