[Ads-l] troll (crypto)

[Barretts Mail]

Today, the Huffington Post announced that Merriam-Webster added the verb “troll”, meaning, "to antagonize (others) online by deliberately posting inflammatory, irrelevant, or offensive comments or other disruptive content.”

(http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/merriam-webster-new-words-troll-alt-right-dog-whistle_us_59bff90fe4b06f9bf04863d4 <http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/merriam-webster-new-words-troll-alt-right-dog-whistle_us_59bff90fe4b06f9bf04863d4>, "Merriam-Webster Isn't Trolling You, It's Just Redefining What That Means” by Claire Fallon)

However, as explained on Trollbox One (https://www.trollboxone.com/what-is-a-trollbox/ <https://www.trollboxone.com/what-is-a-trollbox/>), the definition has a positive meaning, at least in crypto: it means simply to chat in a chatroom.

I haven’t encountered this verb in the wild, but I have seen trollboxes in action and been helped by other users.

More about the toolbox can be read about in "Lessons from the Trollbox” (https://steemit.com/cryptocurrency/@blakemiles84/lessons-from-the-trollbox <https://steemit.com/cryptocurrency/@blakemiles84/lessons-from-the-trollbox>) by blakemiles84. (The article has a bonus word: troller, meaning someone who trolls—a troll?)

To see a trollbox, go to https://www.cryptopia.co.nz/ <https://www.cryptopia.co.nz/> and click on “Chat”. An invitation is extended that says, “Please login to troll.”

As an aside, "What is the Bitcoin TrollBox? BTC-E’s Crypto-Cultural Chatroom” (http://heavy.com/tech/2013/11/trollbox-e-btc-mt-gox-ltc-crypto/ <http://heavy.com/tech/2013/11/trollbox-e-btc-mt-gox-ltc-crypto/>) by Danny Vega notes the presence of homophobia in trollboxes. I have been surprised by the number of times I’ve seen “fag” and “faggot” as a general insult on crypto Twitter. Perhaps I just live in a bubble, but I thought that had pretty much died out twenty years ago.

Happy birthday, Samuel Johnson.

Benjamin Barrett
Formerly of Seattle, WA
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