Are trolls drawn to R&S, or are they bred?

What is a "troll"?

It depends what you're referring to when you say trolls. There are a couple of grades of troll on R&S.

What makes R&S different form a lot of categories is that we have a resident population. R&S users tend to spend a lot of time on here as opposed to popping in and out to ask and answer one or two questions at intervals, as happens elsewhere. As a result there is a lot of filler material in between legitimate questions. It keeps us from becoming bored. Yes, a lot of that material can be considered trolling, but it also means a knowledgeable population who can give good answers to real questions when they appear. As a result, askers of legitimate questions get a lot of answers quickly, rather than waiting for days as can happen in other categories. Yes, in the old days of R&S there was plenty of trolling, but believe it or not it was for the most part respectful and thought provoking, rather than the pointless and often aggressive stuff so common now. Some of the early R&S trolls were superbly talented and very insightful, on both sides of the religious divide. But the RMs put paid to that.

Many of the trolls in that category didn't start out as trolls. Petty reporting by Report Monkeys has given rise to a culture of "well, if I'm going to be reported for not doing anything wrong, I might as well have some fun". R&S has been hit by massive Report Monkeying which has has led to an increase in trolling.

Then you have the lame trolls who come on here exclusively to troll. These are usually level 1 losers who couldn't troll their way out of a wet paper bag. Again, Report Monkeying plays a role here. Prior to about 2011, before the Report Monkey plagues, R&S was a true community who controlled the lame trolling with ridicule and a good old fashioned calling out, without running to Yamster and telling tales. When that control was exhaustively reported by RMs, a lot of us stopped caring about this place and we stopped making an effort to clean it up (why would we bother when we're just reported for it?)... so thanks to the RMs, R&S is the lame trollville we know and love today.

Don't tell me how to reply. Getting sick of questioners dictating behavior.

I think obviously silly postings (Q/A) is alright. It's mostly harmless and I think everyone falls into that from time to time because it's a tension breaker.

The hard trolling is by people who came specifically to do so. There might be a small percentage of people who came here for mild interest and fell into trolling, but I think the main supply comes from deranged people who were deranged before they got here.

By the way, here is someone who is good at trolling:

Why are atheists so angry?

1 - In Religion & Spirituality - Asked by █████████ ATEHEISTS Are HYPOCRITES █████████ - 38 answers - 15 hours ago - Open

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AlHOd...

Check! Flashy name, Westboro Baptist Church style.

Check! Simple inflammatory question, nothing else.

Results: Replies began to poor in instantly and ran for hours to its current tally of 38. I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

Facepalm reply: "Why do you troll so poorly?"

We are rare breeds indeed, the questions are honest with other ingredients found along with it LOL. and by the way, it seems to be a little catchy. I like your reaction :)

Trolls are attracted to things that get people riled up like moths to a light bulb. Religion is one of those things.

They're created here by quasi-genetic mutation.

Occasionally, one will receive the reverse mutation.

I've had both.

Now I feel like Dr. Manhattan.

 

Trolls look for gullible fools.

That is the definition of a religious person.

If you think R&S is bad, you should check out the politics section.