Do you appreciate a good troll? And where have they gone?

The King of Moo

These thoughts occurred to me when I noticed that two posters who I (and I hope most people) would've considered trolls had closed their accounts not long after registering. (no names mentioned)

It's something I've noticed lately: posters who register, post ridiculous, ill-informed things, can't back their arguments up when people take them to task, then close their accounts.

Even the trolls who remain, and on the internet in general these days, just don't seem to be very good at it.
They'll post something stupid, with little consideration of nuancing their argument in order to appear plausible and really wind people up.
They'll just keep repeating themselves, not really evolving their arguments for maximum nuisance factor.
(I may just be mistaking stupidity for trolling though)

No-one really likes a troll, but there is an art to good trolling. The best ones would not simply post something obviously outrageous and get banned or have their thread locked.
They'd really know how to push people's buttons and keep things going for a long time.

What's happened to the state of trolling?

Feathers

Needs more focus in schools. We should have a question on the LC English paper II for it instead of an essay.

TheBody

Shower of n_ggers if ask me!!

shuridunno

I was mistaken for a troll, but I wasn't...I was just stupid...like a fox

The King of Moo

shuridunno wrote: »

I was mistaken for a troll, but I wasn't...I was just stupid...like a fox

I recall a fellow, he looked like you, and I'm still convinced he was a troll.

But idunnoshur.

:pac:

af_thefragile

I like a good troll... makes me laugh from time to time...

FlyingIrishMan

artoftrolling.com

Love that site.

Mr Benevolent

Trolls were much better in the old days.

MadYaker

I tried to start a thread about trolling but it got locked http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=77250348

The King of Moo

MadYaker wrote: »

I tried to start a thread about trolling but it got locked http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=77250348

Hhm, I think that thread might just have crossed the line between "about trolling" and "actively encouraging trolling."

af_thefragile

Domo230 wrote: »

I did love the man gets hit by train thread.

Fair play to the mods for pretending to abuse their power by keeping it up (seriously if you havnt seen it go look up the thread, it's the best thread on boards)

Anyone have the link for it?

Its in the legendary boards thread...

Oranage2

Some good trolls still about some of the best are actually mods

Pedant

I trolled the Euros thread so so well.

KKkitty

Ah Joe all the good trolls are gone. Fecking disgrace Joe

He is under the bridge waiting for the Billy goats ...oh wait

Toby Take a Bow

Pedant wrote: »

I trolled the Euros thread so so well.

I often pretend I'm trolling when I realise I just haven't a clue.

Shryke

Check out the Facebook thread about pedobear. Definitely some trolling right there.

Fr_Dougal

Pedant wrote: »

I trolled the Euros thread so so well.

Link to your masterpiece?

The King of Moo

It's heartening to see that the greatest real-world trolls continue to exceed my high expectations.

You might recall some time ago that the Sunday Independent used the death of a teenage boy as a pretext for promoting the boutique owned by his girlfriend's mother, right in the middle of the article "about" his tragic death.

Well today in The Sunday Independent magazine they feature an interview (favourite book, film etc.) with the owner of the boutique, presumably just to piss people off.

Bravo, Sindo, bravo. You're easily the greatest trolls out there, and we all admire how you've managed to plumb new depths, when we all thought you'd reached the lowest nadir possible a long time ago.

kryogen

I do, I enjoy a good troll, they give me a laugh before they inevitably run out of material, have had some really good ones on here over the years.

When a troll is bad though he should be killed straight away.

DuPLeX

What about Gnomes ?

mathepac

The King of Moo wrote: »

... when we all thought you'd reached the lowest nadir possible a long time ago.

The appalling quality of English is redolent of an habitual Sindo reader.

The lowest nadir comment above is at best a display of tautology, at worst it displays a complete lack of understanding of the word "nadir".

Do you have any more O'Reillyisms you want to share with us, just so you can get them out of your system?

Bye the bye, is O'Reilly really a troll or is my understanding of these new media terms wanting in some way?

kowloon

Good trolls are like good satire, you can't tell the difference between them and the real thing.

Maybe the trolls have become better and they've blended in with the rest of the net's denizens.

Spread

mathepac wrote: »

The appalling quality of English is redolent of an habitual Sindo reader.

The lowest nadir comment above is at best a display of tautolog,y, at worst it displays a complete lack of understanding of the word "nadir".

Do you have any more O'Reillyisms you want to share with us, just so you can get them out of your system?

Bye the bye, is O'Reilly really a troll or is my understanding of these new media terms wanting in some way?

He probably means the lowest of the lowest, mathepac

mathepac

I'm not familiar with the term "the lowest of the lowest" whereas I do know "the lowest of the low". Maybe "the lowest of the lowest" is another O'Reillyism. You're a long-standing Sindo fan yourself I take it?

SocSocPol

mathepac wrote: »

I'm not familiar with the term "the lowest of the lowest" whereas I do know "the lowest of the low". Maybe "the lowest of the lowest" is another O'Reillyism. You're a long-standing Sindo fan yourself I take it?

What has O'Reilly got to do with the sindo?

Rabies

Boards trolls from years ago were so much better.
Feels like they've stopped trying now.

The King of Moo

Rabies wrote: »

Boards trolls from years ago were so much better.
Feels like they've stopped trying now.

Definitely, they're just rubbish now:

mathepac wrote: »

The appalling quality of English is redolent of an habitual Sindo reader.

The lowest nadir comment above is at best a display of tautology, at worst it displays a complete lack of understanding of the word "nadir".

Do you have any more O'Reillyisms you want to share with us, just so you can get them out of your system?

Bye the bye, is O'Reilly really a troll or is my understanding of these new media terms wanting in some way?

mathepac wrote: »

I'm not familiar with the term "the lowest of the lowest" whereas I do know "the lowest of the low". Maybe "the lowest of the lowest" is another O'Reillyism. You're a long-standing Sindo fan yourself I take it?

old_aussie

The King of Moo wrote: »

These thoughts occurred to me when I noticed that two posters who I (and I hope most people) would've considered trolls had closed their accounts not long after registering. (no names mentioned)

It's something I've noticed lately: posters who register, post ridiculous, ill-informed things, can't back their arguments up when people take them to task, then close their accounts.

Even the trolls who remain, and on the internet in general these days, just don't seem to be very good at it.
They'll post something stupid, with little consideration of nuancing their argument in order to appear plausible and really wind people up.
They'll just keep repeating themselves, not really evolving their arguments for maximum nuisance factor.
(I may just be mistaking stupidity for trolling though)

No-one really likes a troll, but there is an art to good trolling. The best ones would not simply post something obviously outrageous and get banned or have their thread locked.
They'd really know how to push people's buttons and keep things going for a long time.

What's happened to the state of trolling?

So you finally came out from under your bridge.

Ellis Dee

The King of Moo wrote: »

These thoughts occurred to me when I noticed that two posters who I (and I hope most people) would've considered trolls had closed their accounts not long after registering. (no names mentioned)

It's something I've noticed lately: posters who register, post ridiculous, ill-informed things, can't back their arguments up when people take them to task, then close their accounts.

Even the trolls who remain, and on the internet in general these days, just don't seem to be very good at it.
They'll post something stupid, with little consideration of nuancing their argument in order to appear plausible and really wind people up.
They'll just keep repeating themselves, not really evolving their arguments for maximum nuisance factor.
(I may just be mistaking stupidity for trolling though)

No-one really likes a troll, but there is an art to good trolling. The best ones would not simply post something obviously outrageous and get banned or have their thread locked.
They'd really know how to push people's buttons and keep things going for a long time.

What's happened to the state of trolling?

I can assure you that the art of trolling is very alive and well.

You see, the best trolls are those who are not even detected as trolls. Some of them only drop into Boards.ie for part of the time, because they can influence much bigger audiences elsewhere. :D

Or so I'm told.;););)

Defiler Of The Coffin

Some of the Fianna Fail trolls that emerged around election time were good. This one made me laugh: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=68315280

the purple tin

There was a certain unionist troll who's gone now I think, he was always good for a giggle.

mathepac

SocSocPol wrote: »

What has O'Reilly got to do with the sindo?

The O'Reilly family owns the Sindo / Indo & other newspapers in Ireland as well as other news media around the world. The used to own The Independent but sold it for £1.

Pushtrak

Maybe I just has the dumb, but when I hear O'Reilly I think the fool on Fox. This isn't the O'Reilly being meant here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_O'Reilly

(Come on, someone, can't be the only one who was mixed up :P)

Eggonyerface

The King of Moo wrote: »

It's heartening to see that the greatest real-world trolls continue to exceed my high expectations.

You might recall some time ago that the Sunday Independent used the death of a teenage boy as a pretext for promoting the boutique owned by his girlfriend's mother, right in the middle of the article "about" his tragic death.

Well today in The Sunday Independent magazine they feature an interview (favourite book, film etc.) with the owner of the boutique, presumably just to piss people off.

Bravo, Sindo, bravo. You're easily the greatest trolls out there, and we all admire how you've managed to plumb new depths, when we all thought you'd reached the lowest nadir possible a long time ago.

Is there a link to this?

Even trolls are affected by the Recession.

Haelium

These days any dissenting comment is seen as "Trolling".

ManTheSam

Domo230 wrote: »

I did love the man gets hit by train thread.

Fair play to the mods for pretending to abuse their power by keeping it up (seriously if you havnt seen it go look up the thread, it's the best thread on boards)

Anyone have the link for it?

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055626095&page=1

Pushtrak

Haelium wrote: »

These days any dissenting comment is seen as "Trolling".

Not sure if trolling...

















:pac:

SocSocPol

mathepac wrote: »

The O'Reilly family owns the Sindo / Indo & other newspapers in Ireland as well as other news media around the world. The used to own The Independent but sold it for £1.

Sorry to disillusion you but they don't, INM which owns the Indo/Sindo/Sunday World, and a rake of reigonal newspapers in neither owned nor controlled by the O'Reilly's.

Dangerous Man

Most of the old school trolls have gone here.

mathepac

The King of Moo wrote: »

Definitely, they're just rubbish now:

I'm sorry, I'll try harder. It seems I get accused of trolling when I'm not and told I'm rubbish when I do. I just can't seem to lose.

The King of Moo

Eggonyerface wrote: »

Is there a link to this?

Unfortunately not, it doesn't seem to be on the website, just the magazine.

mathepac wrote: »

I'm sorry, I'll try harder. It seems I get accused of trolling when I'm not and told I'm rubbish when I do. I just can't seem to lose.

Grammar Nazism is normally a fruitful avenue for trolling, but unfortunately it's too soon after a high-profile thread about the subject, and the sticky on the issue means that it's difficult to take large-scale acts of Grammar Nazism seriously, given the awareness of the disapproval against it.

Regular Nazism, on the other hand...

Sarky

They're still about, they're just tired of the lack of challenge provided by the credulous masses who keep signing up in ever greater numbers. There's just no fun trolling commoners who'll instantly believe almost anything you post. It's like most people are just too... Well I don't want to say stupid... Eh, too unaware to get offended, that sounds better.

mathepac

SocSocPol wrote: »

Sorry to disillusion you but they don't, INM which owns the Indo/Sindo/Sunday World, and a rake of reigonal newspapers in neither owned nor controlled by the O'Reilly's.

That's odd because the Indo reporting on the AGM lists him. As well as his own shares, his 6 kids and the Mrs. seem to control just short of 30% of IN&M, so 30% his then, thank you for your correction. The two Dinnys have big lumps of shares too

FatherLen

i put on my robe and wizard hat.

Local-womanizer

A good one here, look out for his other stuff :

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056568883

Bell Butter

Local-womanizer wrote: »

A good one here, look out for his other stuff :

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056568883

That was a good read Thanks:pac:

The King of Moo

old_aussie wrote: »

So you finally came out from under your bridge.

Sssshh!!

I was going to wait at least another few months before revealing my insanely complicated trolling grand plan that I've crafted without anyone realising!

Eggonyerface

The King of Moo wrote: »

Eggonyerface wrote: »

Is there a link to this?

Unfortunately not, it doesn't seem to be on the website, just the magazine.

mathepac wrote: »

I'm sorry, I'll try harder. It seems I get accused of trolling when I'm not and told I'm rubbish when I do. I just can't seem to lose.

Grammar Nazism is normally a fruitful avenue for trolling, but unfortunately it's too soon after a high-profile thread about the subject, and the sticky on the issue means that it's difficult to take large-scale acts of Grammar Nazism seriously, given the awareness of the disapproval against it.

Regular Nazism, on the other hand...

They might be afraid of the comments, I can't; pass her shop without thinking of the first "article"

aaronjumper

I think people are too afraid to troll boards, or just could not be bothered.
It seems that wit is no longer awarded and instead comments like "don't feed the troll" etc. are hurled in their general direction, quickly followed by a ban.

Trying to push peoples buttons without getting an outright ban is a hard trick to pull off these days, add to that the general decline in peoples intelligence, then is it really any wonder there are no witty trolls left?