Talk:Troll (slang)

Another use of T.R.O.L.L.
Does the information in another Wikipedia article fit anywhere in this article? "In an attempt to demonstrate the perils of over-reliance on the internet as authority, the Mikkelsons assembled a series of fabricated urban folklore tales that they term "The Repository of Lost Legends". The name was chosen for its acronym, T.R.O.L.L., a reference to the early 1990s definition of the word troll, meaning an Internet prank, of which David Mikkelson was a prominent practitioner. " --
 * Snopes.com

Article lead
I think is article's lead in its currant state says too much. It lists off too many synonyms and examples and what's worse is it still doesn't describe trolling broadly enough. I would describe this problem as being too specific, where if the intent was to cover all bases by specifically listing off every possibility it has fail to do so while already listing too many.

An example I want to mention is Ken M. Vox called him "the world's greatest internet troll," but what he did was not malicious or mean-spirited. If the definition presented in the article fails to capture individuals such as him, then it has failed.

I added the Oxford definition to the article because it gives the most broad but concise definition, and actually does cover all bases. Usually trolls are offensive, but they are offensive to be provocative, which is something they all are because they do it to get a reaction. However, I still think what is present from before in the lead needs to be trimmed down.

Anyways, I wanted to make this talk post before I went around deleting stuff. Pernicious.Editor (talk) 12:56, 6 March 2024 (UTC)

Correct defintion required?
The article seems to portray trolling as the use of any offensive posts etc. no matter if serious beliefs or not. However as understood on online spaces; trolling is about intent, the person trolling (laying bait) has to not believe what they are saying and are merely trying to elicit a reaction via knowing sensitive information about how the target will respond to the statements. Simply stating an unpopular or offensive opinion is not in itself trolling, unless the intent is to provoke a reaction AND the troller does not believe in the contents of the statement. Should a reference be added about this? 203.46.132.214 (talk) 03:10, 30 April 2024 (UTC)