So Why Do You Feed the Troll?

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 12/6/07 at 11:48am

If you know the troll is putting you on and you know feeding the troll is doing nothing more than giving it exactly what it wants, then why do it? In the end, who looks more stupid?

[iHeartMyGeek]

Posted: 12/6/07 at 11:54am

I don't know, I don't get it. I see the troll as functioning merely as a rock against which to sharpen one's wit. Whenever you actually start getting into serious conversation with it, actually trying to argue with it, that's when you start to look dumber than it.

[JustAGuy]

Posted: 12/6/07 at 11:59am

I feed the troll, to help those who don't, feel superior.

[Craig]

Posted: 12/6/07 at 12:02pm

Why do people start threads asking questions they already know the answers to?

To open up a dialogue - to attempt at hearing something new?

Sounds like similar reasons as to why trolls get fed

[Jane2]

Posted: 12/6/07 at 12:10pm

jag-LOL! Sometimes it's fun to feed them, sometimes not. it depends on my mood~

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 12/6/07 at 12:24pm

Why do people start threads asking questions they already know the answers to?

Ah, but I don't!

To open up a dialogue - to attempt at hearing something new?

Precisely. I'm trying to gather more information and opinions. By starting a new thread, the topic is more recognized than the previous discussion disguised under a different heading.

Sounds like similar reasons as to why trolls get fed

Except trolls are usually disingenuous, merely baiting the feeders to start a heated argument. I'm actually posing a question for which I'm curious about the answers. I'm not trying to start an argument. I just want to know why people willingly do exactly what the trolls want. It's a completely fair question.

I feed the troll, to help those who don't, feel superior.

But what if they don't actually feel superior? What if that is only your impression projected upon them?

I see the troll as functioning merely as a rock against which to sharpen one's wit.

Now that is a beautifully put answer. Honest, intelligent and objective. I can see that. But would you say that implies the engagement is somewhat based on vanity?

[iHeartMyGeek]

Posted: 12/6/07 at 12:27pm

Oh, come now, Matt--isn't EVERYTHING done on this board somewhat based on vanity?

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 12/6/07 at 12:28pm

the troll is fed and protected to ensure that its ridiculously over the top and poorly written caricature is the most visible representation of supposedly conservative views present on the ot board.

Updated On: 12/6/07 at 12:28 PM

[iHeartMyGeek]

Posted: 12/6/07 at 12:33pm

So cynical today, papa!

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 12/6/07 at 12:35pm

iHeart - You are ridiculously logical. That is so hot.

And I am never vain. I call it "self-love" which my doctor tells me is totally healthy.

papa - You might be absolutely correct, though we're as likely to know the truth as the troll is to starve to death.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 12/6/07 at 12:55pm

It must depend on the troll. I rarely see any trolls but one that people consistently engage and bait and taunt as though it's a real person. Most others get ignored or deleted. And rarely is anything new actually heard in threads that center around the troll in question.

I wonder why people get so defensive when asked about their troll feeding. Updated On: 12/6/07 at 12:55 PM

[JohnBoy2]

Posted: 12/6/07 at 12:57pm

Because they feed them.

[JustAGuy]

Posted: 12/6/07 at 1:00pm

"But what if they don't actually feel superior? What if that is only your impression projected upon them?"

But what if they do??

[Jane2]

Posted: 12/6/07 at 1:00pm

It's not even all that important, is it?

I mean, well nothing on a message board is all that important, but I don't give much thought to trolls.

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 12/6/07 at 1:03pm

and no one's surprised that's how you treat your relatives, jane.

[Jane2]

Posted: 12/6/07 at 1:04pm

yep

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 12/6/07 at 1:17pm

But what if they do??

I wouldn't know.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 12/6/07 at 1:18pm

I have long maintained that the Troll is NOT a real conservative. It is merely a liberal, a frustrated playwright with very little talent at creating character and writing dialogue, who has created this sock puppet and visits various conservative websites to pick up on current sound bites, which he (or she) deposits here, like so many turds.

I know conservatives, I work with conservatives, I have even slept with conservatives, and none of them talk that way.

I empathize with Papa, because the Troll makes it difficult to have rational conversations about politics here. The troll makes every issue personal and insulting, both to individuals and to "liberals" as a class. This enervates any real substantive political discussion.

There is no HD. There was never a Chanticleer. It was always a longtime poster who started off laughing at us all. But by this point, we're laughing at him (or her).

The troll has become ADDICTED to posting here. This is no longer someone having fun by pretending to be a poster with an agenda. This person has become a sad, sick scab-puller, someone with an unhealthy need to start fights and engage with people who hate him (or her).

For the Troll, fighting with people online is better than sex. More than likely, it is a replacement for sex.

Why do I engage the Troll? You're right. I should know better. But it's just so much fun

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 12/6/07 at 1:23pm

"like so many turds."


Brilliant!

[iHeartMyGeek]

Posted: 12/6/07 at 1:24pm

I don't feel superior for not feeding the troll. Every now and again, when I'm bored or just have something particularly interesting to say, I will respond to the troll. I don't look at it as our enemy, or even as a fly to be swatted. It can't be taken that seriously. But it can be a source of endless entertainment, if that's the way you choose to look at it.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 12/6/07 at 1:24pm

I rarely see any trolls but one that people consistently engage and bait and taunt as though it's a real person.

Two regular trolls, actually. One is self-admitted. But yes, my original post was regarding the most well-known troll on the boards.

But by this point, we're laughing at him (or her).

But that's my point. I think by continually feeding the troll, especially from the same people again and again, the troll always has the last laugh.

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 12/6/07 at 1:45pm

"But that's my point. I think by continually feeding the troll, especially from the same people again and again, the troll always has the last laugh."

I heartily agree. Letting a troll's thread or comment go without notice is the best comment to make...and when said troll keeps bumping thier own threads because noone is taking the bait, it is not only funnily pathetic, but exposes the true desperation behind the posting of such nonsense on a fairly liberal board like bww.

I do think continually engaging such idiocy makes no sense and therefore makes the posters engaged seem silly.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 12/6/07 at 1:47pm

No. The troll never has the last laugh, even when his posting approaches diarrhea-level.

We have the last laugh because we chime in when we feel like pulling another leg off the spider, and then we go away, laughing and forgetting about it, while he (or she) posts and posts and posts.

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 12/6/07 at 1:48pm

and any conspiracy theorist worth his or her weight in salt would suggest that those who engage the troll the most would seem to have the most stake in the troll's survival and thus are the prime candidates for indeed being the troll.

[Calvin]

Posted: 12/6/07 at 1:51pm

Ah, yes, but the SEASONED conspiracy theorist would say that an experienced troll-maker would know better than to be the most blatant engager and therefore would only jump into the ring during those rare occasions that the usual sparring mates were taking a breather.

And whom would that be? Like I pay that much attention!