Where there is open
participation, there will be trolls.
I don’t mean the fairy
tale creatures that live under bridges. “Troll” is slang for someone inclined to stir up Internet
drama by starting arguments or upsetting people by posting inflammatory,
extraneous or off-topic messages. The disruption may be very calculated or completely
unintentional: Howard Fosdick says, “Motivations differ but the results are the same”.
Troll-types didn’t originate with the Web
and they don’t restrict themselves to it. Trolls have been around as long as
there have been opportunities to get attention. The Internet Troll has a genial
cousin I call the “Bible Study Troll”. He’s not malicious and he doesn’t mean
to be inflammatory, but his contributions are just as likely to lead to drama
and discord as those of his better-known relative.