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[XenaLives]

A good article on internet trolling:

Let's talk about intentional trolls.

Some are motivated by political, financial, or ideological gain. For example, political trolls participate in forums run by opponents to disrupt them. Sometimes this takes the form of a concern troll, a person who appears sympathetic to the cause being discussed but who is actually trying to sow doubt among the believers. In 2006 a Republican Congressional staffer was forced to resign after he posted to liberal blogs as a Democrat who thought the party should fold in the contest for his boss's seat.

How about financial and ideological trolling? Trolls posted falsely about a corporate buy-out at Yahoo Finance that caused an immediate 31% gain in the stock of telephone equipment company PairGain. The hoax was quickly exposed and the stock deflated. Wired claims that anti-Scientology protests sometimes take the form of trolling. We're all familiar with Linux trolls who disrupt Windows threads, and Windows trolls who disrupt Linux discussions.

Then there are the cases of astroturfing, also called astrotrolling. Whole Foods CEO John Mackey was caught doing this. His anonymous self "quickly became an outspoken regular on the board, praising and defending Whole Foods with the equally enthusiastic virulence used to attack and shame the company's competitors and nay-sayers."

Trolls sometimes defame individuals. One victim was the late 60 Minutes commentator Andy Rooney, whose name was signed to a racist rant he didn't write. Another was John Seigenthaler, eminent journalist and former Kennedy aide, who was implicated in the Kennedy assassinations by a false Wikipedia post. The perpetrator was caught. Few of us non-famous folks would have had the resources to counteract such "Internet character assassination." Some trolls even mock the dead and deface online memorials.

http://www.osnews.com/story/25540/Why_People_Troll_and_How_to_Stop_Them