The Trolling Of The Times

Anyone who is internet savvy will know what a TROLL is, but for those new to this WWW madness, allow me to give a brief description of a troll; basically they are people who visit message boards and forums with the aim of disrupting everything, provoking reactions from the members. There are many different types of troll but thats the gist of it. Most are harmless and when ignored they will go elsewhere. (There is no fun to be had if nobody gets wound up.)
A fair few however are quite clever and will 'recce' a board and research its members before posting. Believe me, some trolls very dedicated and go about their trolling with precision.


A typical Troll's leaving card

But are they ALL bad and out to ruin other peoples internet 'lives'? Quite frankly no they are not. I used to be one myself (when time permitted) and while I admit to visiting a few website forums to wind people up, my reason for trolling was different. I was testing my beliefs and ideas, for example I would visit hunting forums in the guise of an Anti hunter (nobody could be more PRO hunting than I,) trying to get inside an Anti's head to see if I could understand. Most trolls who go onto message boards are usually the OPPOSITE of what they claim to be in the open forum.
Dont forget, the internet is a fairly recent thing and everything is changing due to it. The way we live our lives is 'evolving' as we type and humans have to adapt. It isn't just news that is being spread differently. This generation of children are the first to not understand what it was like before the internet and some find trolling the best way to figure out their thoughts. (Im not talking about the vicious, meddlesome types here because nobody can deny that there are indeed sad individuals out to cause misery.)
To some its just a new way to explore ones ideas and maybe confront doubts via an online 'character'. I myself have explored quite a few avenues of thought by taking on the role of a troll. And a good one will try to be as creative as possible which stirs other things inside the brain.
The troll is not all bad and winding people up often makes them think a lot more. Keeps them on their toes. Yes I enjoy a good wind up, watching peoples reactions can be hilarious but it was never the core of why I did it. My guess is that im not the only one using this method to try and cement my ideas.