Talk:What is a troll?

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The "Dealing With Trolls" lecture is kind of a win for trolls... If you've ever trolled anyone, even once, you'd get that. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 96.240.135.133 (talk • contribs) .

What an odd essay. A troll is someone who will post deliberately controversial remarks, with the hope that an individual/group will get riled enough to argue back. When people argue back, they may or may not lose their temper and say stupid things, revealing their prejudices/ignorance of the original topic. Trolling is a kind of socratic irony. The best way to deal with trolls on the internet is to have a little self-control, and not lose your temper in the first place.

[edit] The problem is behavior, not intent

It seems to me that the focus on intent (which can seldom be proven) is really wrongheaded. The focus should be on behavior which serves "to disrupt the usability of Wikipedia." In this regard, trolling is akin to other forms of disruptive editing. --SteveMcCluskey 02:53, 8 September 2009 (UTC)