[TrunKated]

The basic definition of a troll is a "provocative posting intended to produce a large volume of frivolous responses." Some also define a Trolling as a "deliberate and intentional attempts to disrupt the usability of..." whatever website. Now Taruby wants to classify the quality of trolls, saying the best are an elite group or something. Well, the best are the most skilled and less obvious surely so they are elite in that respect. But elite or simple-minded, trolling is often considered in very negative terms, I really don't see what goes on here as anything that horrible. None of jake's, taruby's, lookatits, and other's thread-starter posts are that terrible, I don't think. Sure they produce SOME silly responses. Some anger. Some confusion. But none of them get THAT many responses and they get cold and die pretty quickly. Certainly, they aren't making the site unusable.

The most frivalous and largest thread out there right now is the Insult the Person Above You one. And it's really just fun. And not too many people are taking it seriously, I don't think. I mean, I didn't really mean any of the insults I tossed into it, and I even started making some of them generic so if someone popped up between who I thought was a target and my post, it would apply to anyone.

NOW, surely the largest threads out there are the RP's. Are RP's "provocative posting(s) intended to produce a large volume of frivolous responses?" I think one could argue that they ARE. So, in a way, they are the most elaborate and successful trolling on the site., especially if some of the participants are just doing it to get a response rather than really participate. I bet there are a couple of people there like that. But who knows?

On another note, perhaps one could find the most evil trolling in warmonger politicians, along with their propaganda media. Boy have trolled us!

The flip-side is that some trolling is just fun, I suppose. Maybe? Yes, like a kind of PRANK, taruby. YOU'VE GOT TROLLED!

But again, the silly posts in FBS are nothing really, IMHO. Now when people get nasty down in the transformation media categories or the art requests sections, I think people REALLY are treading on thin ice. It's just not right to be impolite there, I think. It's hard enough to get process media without insulting artists and treasure hunters. And people don't always take things as they are meant, when it is just typed out, as many have repeated. So I think let the flaming BS stay in FBS. Police some of it if needed, and keep things polite in the main categories.

Just my thoughs.