Trolling is a art

Trolling, by getting fans of something pissed of can be quite fun and harmless.

Trolling by spreading missinformation or engaging in culture wars etc. Can be very harmfull.

Theres a guy on insta who dresses in a Union Jack suit and goes to right-wing areas in the UK and proceeds to gently explains to bigots how ridiculous their beliefs are. They think he's an ally and he talks like them, but slowly drops truth bombs on them. You can see them blue-screening in real-time. It's wonderful.

A poor troll argues with others. A good troll gets others to argue amongst themselves.

It can be harmless and exquisitely funny. See Ken M.

In the original sense, trolling is a forum post that attracts predictable responses from ignorant participants while being obvious to those who are more knowledgeable. In moderation, it's a harmless practical joke.

It has come to mean internet harassment meant to make someone miserable, which is never harmless. Some might argue it's justified if the target is harming others.

Trolling in its original sense can be extremely annoying but is ultimately harmless and easily and safely ignored ("Don't feed the trolls") because the troll will eventually be bored at not getting a reaction. The term has unfortunately come to be used for legitimate criticism that the speaker doesn't like as well as actual harassment. Sending dick pics or calling out terfs is not trolling.

Personally — my definition is any time you post something that isn't constructive to the topic (or the comm) with the intention of distracting others from constructive discussion (typically, by getting them to engage with you instead).

I think there's an art to it, and some trolling can be fun, as long as everybody's having fun. Personally, I'm not very good at it. I say what I mean and mean what I say. But I don't mind as long as it's fun.

Anything low effort in order to provoke an emotional response.

It's at best useless according to that definition.

By my definition it's harmless almost by definition. It's meant to be fun mischief, otherwise it's not really trolling. I suppose somebody could take it the wrong way but "I'm just trolling" should be enough to counteract that otherwise it's something more serious.

The media latched on to the term in some time in the 2010s and equated it to serious online harassment but that's not how it was originally used.

trolling never reflects well on teh troller. Its possible to do goofy harmless trolling with friends but you will look like a dork.

A troll is someone who purposesly tries to piss you off.

An example of a troll would be someone who goes into a particular fandom's spaces and tells them their favorite thing sucks and they're stupid for liking it. IE posting "Fornite sucks and is for dumb babies" in a Fortnite community.

https://m.youtube.com/shorts/n-dZjeCEoWU

They see me trollin'
They hatin'