It's borrowed from fishing, where you "troll" (essentially, pull or drag) a baited hook through a body of water hoping to get a bite.
A troll in a forum is thus a post designed to get people to reply - the more replies, the more successful the troll. "Troll" can also refer to a person who posts trolls most or all of the time. Outside of forums, columnists who write columns just to provoke replies are trolling, and so forth.
Trolling has been honed to a high art on USENET, and the ideal there is usually to craft posts which newbies and people unfamiliar with the subject will bite at, but which is worded in a way that will let the regulars in on the joke.
Comments
A troll in a forum is thus a post designed to get people to reply - the more replies, the more successful the troll. "Troll" can also refer to a person who posts trolls most or all of the time. Outside of forums, columnists who write columns just to provoke replies are trolling, and so forth.
Trolling has been honed to a high art on USENET, and the ideal there is usually to craft posts which newbies and people unfamiliar with the subject will bite at, but which is worded in a way that will let the regulars in on the joke.
It seems that an AI term FAQ would be a good idea, so that newbies (and those who have been around a while!) can be familiar with some of these terms.
We've got a few living here. Nastly little bastards to get rid of.