What defines a troll? That would seem to be an odd question to say the least - but sometime you meet trolls that for reasons unknown refuses to acknowledge that they are trolls, as if that somehow would affect their credibility or something. Obviously, these peoples credibility is already long lost. So, the idea is that you need a list of criteria for someone being a troll to just check for ever such person you come across, and to show them just how well they fit the criteria.

Note, however, that this isn't a definitive list of criteria and you can't really make any conclusion made solely on checking off this list. Someone matching just one item in the list isn't a troll, but someone matching most of them most likely is a troll.

Well, I suppose it's handy to define just what we're trying to determine here first. A troll is, in usenet terms, someone who trolls. The word "trolling" comes not from the unsavory creature generally found living under bridges, but rather the act of trolling for fish.

So, the definition of a troll is easily defined as someone who posts to get a specific type of reply, but that's way too loose a critera to apply generally. Especially when you're dealing with someone that will try to obfuscate the matters by stating simply that "don't we all post to get specific replies?" whilst trying to ignore the distinction between the two types of replies on is after. So, we need that list - and here is is. The example troll in this article is a "he", and will be referred to as "he" or "him". The links lead to posts from various trolls, but the most prominent will probably be Michael Glasser, who was the troll who first asked for this "objective critera" in the first place, so it's only fitting to use him for example.

How objective can one be? It's quite clear from the outset that I regard certain people to be trolls, which means that their actions are used for example. But it's important to note that this isn't an article written to point fingers to specific people or to antagonize anyone. This list was specifically requested by Michael Glasser. It is my opinion that Michael is a troll, but this list doesn't not only related to him, nor is it a list to reply to the question "Is Michael a Troll?" even though such a conclusion quite easily could be reached after reading the list.