on 8/27/07 2:40 PM, George Herbert at
george.herbert(a)gmail.com wrote:
It's not trolling to ask "are you
looking at this?" or state "I'm very
concerned about this".
George,
Thanks for this. The word "trolling", the phrase "to troll", and
what
defines "a troll" all seem to have different meanings to different people in
the Community. One person, writing in this thread, defined it as "stirring
shit up".
If trying to call attention to issues you feel are important to the health
of the Community - but you believe are being ignored - is "trolling" - then
I qualify. In fact, using my definition - my university offered a Ph.D.
program in Trolling (subtitled: stirring shit up) :-).
For me there is also a
distinction between the verb and the noun. The
verb has to do with putting out a baited line behind a boat to induce
the fish to byte. The noun is the ugly thing that sits under Norwegian
bridges waiting to catch unwary children.
The practice described by the verb has its place, and is a perfectly
honourable technique for getting people to pay attention to a topic.
Getting caught is a part of the game, and should not result in the
offended denials that we so often see. It's so much nicer to admit
trying to stir things up a little, and moving on.
Ec