There are actually many definitions of the internet form of "troll".
I have discovered that there is actually a science of studying the "workings" of these forums and human nature. It is very interesting to analyze what has happened in this case. Here is a citation from Wikpedia which I think is right on about the phenomenon and what happens here:
Often, a person will post a sincere message about which they are emotionally
sensitive. Skillful trolls know that an easy way to upset them is to
disingenuously claim that the person is a "troll". On other occasions, a
person may not instantly understand, or fit into the social norms of a forum
where most users are the same. As a result, their acting just slightly out
of the norms (often unintentionally, and for legitimate reasons) garners the
label "troll". It can sometimes be difficult to distinguish between a user
who is merely unfamiliar with the social protocols of a forum, and a user
who is intentionally trolling; unfortunately, many users react aggressively
on a first impression to a perceived troll, which sometimes leads
disgruntled new users to become legitimate trolls.
There are many skillful "trolls" on this forum and I used to hate the word because I was labelled one on a forum when I defended a breeder I "knew" who was wrongly accused of stealing a picture and I didn't know what it meant. I was appalled at the troll hunt that ensued and the way I was treated.
When a group of people on a forum want to make life miserable for one member they join together and constantly find fault with the posts and look for ways to convince the admin to ban the member. It is quite successful usually because it is done to newbies on small forums where the "regulars" have a lot of power. It is harder to do on the large forum with a lot of members because others will see what is happening and try to stop the "lynch mob".
The admin here is very very good and rarely do these groups succeed here but that doesn't stop them from trying again and again. |