A Helpful Guide to Trolling

Subject: A Helpful Guide to Trolling Thu Oct 30, 2008 3:16 am

(copy/pasted from 4chan)

Quote :: It has come to my attention that the vast majority of you do not know how to troll and do not know what a good troll is. What most of you see as troll, is in fact, nothing but petty flames or desperate attempts. Trolling is not that difficult, but good trolling takes skill; thus, I will tell you the ten aspects of a good troll (and since you guys like to rate trolls, you can use this as a scoring guide)

Rule 1: This is by far the most important rule - you break this, you are fucked. It's game over and you should give up, hang your head in shame, receive your zero, accept your failure, and better yourself another day.

NEVER ADMIT THAT YOUR ARGUMENT IS FLAWED, THAT THE OPPOSING ARGUMENT IS CORRECT, OR THAT YOU'RE A TROLL.

Just keep to that simple logic, and while your skills may be horrid and no one is taking the bait, you're at least on the path to being a good troll someday. The other important rules (ordered by importance) are:

2. Never make it obvious that you're trying to insight inflammatory responses; be a little subtle in your attempt. If one or two people call you out for trolling, ignore them; if nearly everyone does it, you have done something wrong.

3. Never let the discussion get off topic or die unless you're the one doing so.

4. A troll should always strive for quality over quantity. What good is your bait if no one is falling for it.

5. ...However, that's not to say that a troll shouldn't go for hit count; having everyone take part is much more satisfying than trolling just one or two users.

6. If the discussion ever begins to degrade into nothing more than simple flaming, you must prevent that from happening at all cost or else the topic is dead.

7. A troll should not always rely on Straw man and Ad hominem attacks; while these methods could be good in a pinch, they should never be your main rebuttal.

8. A troll with good enough bait can just sit back and have the other users fight with one another; however, you should always control the argument to make sure it doesn't fade away.

9. A troll should never forget his good friend, the sockpuppet; if the discussion is going nowhere or if you're losing, create some supporters and continue the fight.

10. Be at least somewhat original in your baiting; a dead horse can only be beaten so many times before even the lowest of life ignores it.

Follow these simple rules, and you may someday become a good troll.

Subject: Re: A Helpful Guide to Trolling Wed Nov 19, 2008 12:47 pm

4chan <3

Leave that up to you Lerk