An Internet troll, or simply troll, is someone who tries to harass by posting messages that tend to excite strong emotion in an online community. This is to get a reaction from other online users, or to cause problems. Sometimes trolling can get a user banned as it can be disruptive. Some users do it to be humorous when they know others will be angry. The best solution is to ignore trolls and to not give them the attention they want. This has become known as "don't feed the trolls". It can also mean destroying other people's stuff on online video games (specifically Minecraft) or "spawn killing" which is when a player in a war game "kills" another player repeatedly after they respawn but before they have a chance to fight back.
In October 2012, the internet news site Gawker, publicly revealed the name of an internet troll who had called himself "Violentacrez". Michael Brutcsh had collected photos of young girls from Facebook, often in bikinis or short skirts, and them posted them on the site Reddit. He also posted photos of women, taken without their permission, which focused on their breasts or bottoms. His actions made many people very angry. Brutsch said he was an internet troll because "...I just like riling people up in my spare time."
Notes[change | edit source]
- "Trolling: The Today Show Explores the Dark Side of the Internet", 31 March 2010. Retrieved on 20 July 2010.
- "Definition of: trolling". PCMAG.COM. Ziff Davis Publishing Holdings Inc. 2009. http://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia_term/0,2542,t=trolling&i=53181,00.asp#. Retrieved 2009-03-24.
- Indiana University: University Information Technology Services (2008-05-05). "What is a troll?". Indiana University Knowledge Base. The Trustees of Indiana University. http://kb.iu.edu/data/afhc.html. Retrieved 2009-03-24.
- Chen, Adrian (October 12, 2012). "Unmasking Reddit's Violentacrez, The Biggest Troll on the Web". gawker.com. http://gawker.com/5950981/unmasking-reddits-violentacrez-the-biggest-troll-on-the-web. Retrieved November 9, 2012.
- "Michael Brutsch: Internet troll behind Reddit 'Creepshot' forum unmasked as grandfather from Texas". dailymail.co.uk. 2012. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2217109/Michael-Brutsch-Internet-troll-Reddit-Creepshot-forum-unmasked-grandfather-Texas.html. Retrieved November 9, 2012.