May 18th 2010, 12:50:30
No, major news sites are NOT the big leagues of trolling. The reason for that is the fact that the proportion of retards to normal people who post on those sites is much, much higher than, say, here, for example. The sheer number of users on those sites makes the accomplishment of trolling seem diluted and worthless. It's incredibly easy to just start a thread there on a hot-button issue (such as abortion), and watch it fill up with the posts of mouth-breathing, drooling retards who have nothing better to do. Not to mention the political threads. Trolling isn't a challenge there, even if they do ban easily (which, on news sites, doesn't happen because they usually mod posts before they even hit the forums and/or comment threads).
No, if you want to get into something that's more of a challenge, you'll want to find the small forums, such as those for smaller game sites (like this one, for example). Older game sites are a plus, for the communities on those sites are usually older, and more mature. The people there have had certain opinions for so long, and have probably been trying to argue over those opinions for even longer, and trolling them takes time, work, and patience. The effects of trolling on these smaller forums will usually be more pronounced, as a greater percentage of the community will have read whatever someone is trolling about, and more than likely have their own opinions on the subject.
To be really challenging, don't start a thread on an obviously-controversial issue. Don't try to feed off a current issue that the community is having. Try to hijack a thread that's already going in a different direction, insert your own issues and opinions, and take control of the discussion, so that, by the time you're done, the topic of the current discussion has little to no bearing on what the actual title of the thread says. Having a mod or an administrator get caught up in your trolling without getting banned is a major plus.
EDIT: Trolling when most of the community is either at work or asleep is a big no-no. Not only won't you have the greatest effect, but when you get banned by an admin who's just awaken, you won't see much accomplishment at all. Researching a community before diving in is important. Where is the site hosted? What country/time zone do most of the users have in their profiles? Are there threads on the forums where it's obvious that some posts have been deleted? You'll want to try to find the 'trigger-point' that causes a mod or admin to ban an account, preferably by reading some of the threads.
Edited By: NukEvil on May 18th 2010, 12:58:31
I am a troll. Everything I say must be assumed to be said solely to provoke an exaggerated reaction to the current topic. I fully intend to bring absolutely no substance to any discussion, ongoing or otherwise. Conversing with me is pointless.
