What about CSMA COLA makes people flame 1823

begin doom.scr

I've seen a lot. Snit's technique is despicable, because it's so underhand. Most of the trolls I see make a lot of noise, use a lot of very grown-up barrack-room language, or follow a fairly overt line (astroturfing). Some of them seem strangely confused (gary stewart-flatty), some start out as reasonable posters, but something pushes them over the edge. Some, like k-man, thrive on attention, but are very overt in trying to get it.

Snit is different. Snit shows signs of intelligence, but a continuous background level of belligerence and provocation. (S)he's more like a chinese water torture than a medieval rack. Coupled with a stunning willingness to pretty much any kind of disinegnuous statement, like billwg!!!!! or Erik Funkenbusch makes for a combination which is pretty bad. Link that to a very overt attempt to start a flame war between cola and csma, and a lot of effort put into keeping that war going, particularly when it's looked like it would calm down, as it has on several occasions. Then there're the partial olive branches, and the 'everyone else is awful but you're nice' attempts to gain a couple of allies - also pretty overtly done, but in a seemingly almost naive way.

I'd rate that as pretty obnoxious. I've not seen anyone with such a wide range of well-honed troll techniques, able and willing to use all of them all of the time.

-- end Mark Kent -- mark at ellandroad dot demon dot co dot uk If God had intended Man to Watch TV, He would have given him Rabbit Ears.