Editing Trolling

===Definition of Trolling===
'''Trolling''' is activity which annoys others but is nonetheless necessary. In general internet terms, trolling can be described as making an undefended and polarised statement, to stimulate a large and reactive response.  However, what constitutes "undefended" is usually entirely up to the observer (see [[spun threat]] for a way in which this can be made obvious to third party observers).

Many believe that '''trolling''' is the main form of '''wiki governance''' - mostly consisting of resistance to bad [[wiki management]] decisions, e.g. [[Wikipedia Red Faction]] resistance against [[Wikimedia]] and [[GodKing]].  Some of these advocate a more formal [[faction]] system to organize [[trolls]] to reduce conflict between trolls, and focus more on defeating [[usurper]]s and [[martinet]]s and the [[sysop power structure]] itself.  ''All of this is about as complicated as [[politics as usual]], so we focus on tactics and techniques:''

A [[trollherd]] is someone whose activities or interests have a very high correlation with that of several [[trolls]].  This may or may not be a [[troll]] themselves, and they might even openly attack and abuse trolls.  However, this could be a [[cover story]] to avoid being accused of causing the '''trolling''', whether they approve of it or not.  It's hard to tell.

===Trolling Tactics===

*pointing out [[harassment]]
*advocating that bad sysops be [[driven off by trolls]]
*pointing out [[outing]], [[framing]], [[spun threat]] and other abuses of sysops
*reinstating legitimate contributions to undo [[ad hominem delete]]
*strongly defending the [[GFDL corpus]] and moving text between [[GFDL corpus access provider]]s to ensure it remains visible, as the licenses seem to demand
*[[Humptydumptyism]]- arbitrary redefinitions of vocabulary

===Established trolling techniques===
*Typos or Tyops and even broken links to annoy the [[Lowest Troll]] since only correcting the typo and leaving the made statements "intact" will act as an seal of approval for the trolling.
*Grammatically dysfunctional pseudo-sentences that are complex to decypher what is supposed to be the "correct" sentence.
*Involving out-of-context rants within otherwise legitimate articles
*Provocative article naming
*Heavy linking to very trollish articles, e.g. critical analysis of serious mistakes made by [[enemy projects]]

All these techniques will be immensely useful when trying to bring attention to bad behaviour by corporations;  Basically, we are all "trolling" corporations and governments and industries here at [[Consumerium]], and some believe that the whole [[Internet]] only exists for purposes of "trolling" the real world.  When [[Wikipedia China block|Wikipedia was blocked in China]], for instance, some said it was for "trolling" the Chinese government, i.e. stating things as facts that the Chinese government denied or simply did not want anyone to read.

Also, trolling helps to engage more people in examining their behaviour.  Someone may be drawn into a debate simply because of '''trolling''' but, once in, may feel compelled to make moral and value systems decisions that will, ultimately, result in their applying stricter [[individual buying criteria]].

===Troll humour===
*Trollish spelling of words with definitions quite contrary to their original meaning. See [[patroll]] and [[controll]] for examples

However, no one likes being forced to think:  Those accused of deliberately using trolling tactics (not just accidently using some techniques in common) are called "[[trolls]]", usually by the [[sysop power structure]] to whom this means "person to be persecuted, outsider, not one of us."  However, many [[political activist]]s or [[freethinker]]s or [[heretic]]s adopt this label as a term of pride and collective self-defense.  Accordingly it is as meaningless as any other [[pop psychiatry]] label.

===See also===
*[[Troll]] - what is it?
*[[Trolls]] - how do they co-operate?
*[[troll organization]]s - do they exist?

=== References ===

*''[http://www.urban75.com/Mag/troll.html The Subtle Art of Trolling]''
*''[http://www.mwillett.org/troll.htm Who's afraid of the big bad troll]'' and [[Troll of the Year]] competition

::''"I have often wondered why trolling is seen as evil. What harm does it do? Spiteful trolling which sets out to show people up as stupid is obviously wrong. Or is it? What is the harm in showing up error or stupidity? When people show me I have been stupid I usually thank them, eventually."''