In Internet terminology, a troll is someone who intentionally posts derogatory or otherwise inflammatory messages about sensitive topics in an established online community such as an online discussion forum to bait users into responding.[1] They may also plant images and data on networks that others may find disturbing (usually indirectly relating to the individual in person) in order to cause confrontation. While not necessarily related to hacking, such a practice is against the Computer Misuse Act 1990 in the United Kingdom, where mischief is caused in order to ensure chaos is spread. One early reference to troll found in the Google Usenet archive was by user "John Miller," directed toward the user "Tad," on February 8, 1990.[2] However, it is unclear if this instance represents a usage of "troll" as it is known today, or if it was simply a chance choice of epithet:

“You are so far beyond being able to understand anything anyone here says that this is just converging on uselessness. The really sad part is that you really believe that you're winning. You are a shocking waste of natural resources — kindly re-integrate yourself into the food-chain. Just go die in your sleep you mindless flatulent troll.”

The more likely derivation can be found in the phrase "trolling for newbies," popularized in the early 1990s in the Usenet group, alt.folklore.urban. Commonly, what is meant is a relatively gentle inside joke by veteran users, presenting questions or topics that had been so overdone that only a new user would respond to them earnestly. For example, a veteran of the group might make a post on the common misconception that glass flows over time. Long-time readers would both recognize the poster's name and know that the topic had been done to death already, but new subscribers to the group would not "get it" and respond. These types of trolls served as a Shibboleth to identify group insiders. By the late 1990s, alt.folklore.urban had such heavy traffic and participation that trolling of this sort was frowned upon. Others expanded the term to include the practice of playing a seriously misinformed or deluded user, even in newsgroups where one was not a regular; these were often attempts at humor rather than provocation. In such contexts, the noun troll usually referred to an act of trolling, rather than to the author.
Trolls can be existing members of a community that rarely post and often contribute no useful information to the thread, but instead make argumentative posts in an attempt to discredit another person, concentrating almost exclusively on facts irrelevant to the point of the conversation, with the intent of provoking a reaction from others. The key element under attack by a troll is known only to the troll. A person who retaliates (using whatever means) as a result of a misunderstanding (or as a way of rebelling against the overzealous application of rules) is not a troll.[4] A troll is a person who approaches a board with the specific intention of stirring things up, either as a goal in and of itself or as a means of attacking the board perhaps motivated by opposition to the ethos of the board. For example, a neo-Nazi approaching a Jewish forum with the intention of attacking the members, purely because the neo-Nazi knows the forum to contain Jewish members, will be considered a troll.
The general element, that determines whether a malicious user is a troll or not, is the level of indignant emotions present in the person, coupled with the person's history with the forum or group. An indignant user who has had a previous normal relationship with the group is not a troll, even if the user uses methods of attack that are characteristic of a troll attack.

For those that don't get it... It's called marketing. You're an artist, you either hire professionals or you get your friends to log onto every board remotely relating to your art to post a link to your website. Doesn't matter what is said, doesn't matter how it's said, as long as it's spelled correctly.

Originally posted by Weaser P:
"That little car had a 21 gallon gas tank."

The better to get blowed up in.

It gave me the.. "yeah.. you may look like a bad-ass but you can still date my daughter." type of image.