The Internet-based sense of the word troll first appeared in the late 80s, where it was used in a relatively innocent way to expose a newbie (a new Internet user) on forums and bulletin boards. Trolling usually involved asking a stupid question or making a deliberate mistake, and seeing which users would rise to the bait by responding or correcting, in doing so betraying their newbie status.

The Internet-based sense of the word troll first appeared in the late 80s, where it was used in a relatively innocent way to expose a newbie (a new Internet user) on forums and bulletin boards. Trolling usually involved asking a stupid question or making a deliberate mistake, and seeing which users would rise to the bait by responding or correcting, in doing so betraying their newbie status.