Reading the Notre Dame thread and seeing Fr Harry's explanation of What a Troll is I thought I might make a post regarding forum "lingo" for those that might not be familiar. Fr Harry gave as good explanation as there is, from the wikki site.

Troll - Someone who is there to only cause trouble. He/She knows his/her post will cause argument if not with him/her but amongst others. Which leads most times to.....

Flaming - We've seen a bit if this in the past with certain posters. Simply put it's "going off" on someone. Belittling their person or point of view which can lead to a.........

Flame War - Of course this is when two people are going at each other with every insult they can think of.

Sock Puppet - Someone who hold multiple accounts on the forum and posts from each of them.

Bump or Bumping a Thread - To bump a thread is to make a post in a thread that has been inactive for some time and bring it back to top of the recent thread activity lists. Often the thread only has the word "bump" in it.

High Jacking - Which happens often here. A thread is taken over by an individual other than the original poster, pushing is view and steering the thread to his agenda and away from the OP's. Which brings us to.......

OP - Pretty easy, Original Poster.

+1 or any Number - +1 means agreement, the larger the number the more the responder agrees with the post he is responding to or the OP's original post.

Silent Posts - Silent posts are often used when one of the forum members, a family member, or friend of a member of the forum passes away. It's the forum equivalent to bowing our heads in silence and prayer. It is also used for instance this weekend, Memorial Day. On many forums, such as my own for our company, someone will create a Silent Post in remembrance of this day. People who join in the remembrance post only a blank post if the forum software allows, or with a +1 or higher number; if a post requires there be text to be accepted by the software. This software requires text.

OT: Off Topic; Used in the title of a thread to show that the Subject and content of the post is not within the theme of the Forum or Subforum. Not often used here since 99% of the threads are within the theme of the forum objectives.

As someone mentioned a couple of days ago with regard to reading the entire OP's post, this is a must, otherwise, a member could be responding to only the high jacker’s post, enforcing the high jacking of the thread.

Χριστός Ανεστή!
Shannon

[Rose]

This is a very good thread especially for someone like me that doesn't know all of the lingo of the internet. High jacking is one of my pet peeves and I didn't even know it had a name....

Yes you must read the opening post to understand what the thread is about because it seems everyone gets slightly off course in these long threads and the original topic goes astray--reading the whole thread is really better and its not too hard if you keep up with it fairly regularly. Otherwise, don't post if youre not sure because you can lead everyone off topic. Good point.

Of course, those that high jack are probably trollers so what can you do? But at least now I know what they're called!

[DanielSlack]

Hear Hear, or is it Here Here , I totally agree. Thank you for this list.

Sometimes I forget people are not here for the same intention I am. I am here to gather wisdom and knowledge about my Creator and his ways. Others are here to boost their ego, cause turmoil, and frustration.

[doinghiswill]

thank you very much.I haven't taken the time to really deal with the etiquette part of things here.I know that some of my posts aren't my writing but i share them because i think they have some value to the church at large. At any rate great Post.

I have been guilty of a couple of those on occasion

[Mark]

Great post - We'll have to stick this one at the top!

Speaking of Etiquette, I was looking through some of my very first posts from when I first got here, and I was kind of a jerk, wasn't I. LOL

I guess you guys softened me up a little.
Much appreciated.

KNOW THIS TROLL NAMED PASHA< WHO WISHES FOLK TO WAKE
FROM THEIR FALSE REVERE
As to how bright ones passion is, is noticed how they FLARE UP, or as you
posted, FLAMED or
FLAMED OUT which usually happens when folk put foot in cyber mouth.
HIJACKED, have experienced that often, mostly by folks who want to
say something but can't find the RIGHT< POLITICAL WAY.
WARS do happen, happened with Paul and Barnabas so why the heck not us?
What said Jesus about troubles coming? WOE by whom they come, seems
my post of a FLY set off all sorts of trouble which I am reluctant to
blindly let go.

CLONES is what I call sock puppets, they are cloned under various aliases.

and the RATING system works best in how many actually open the page
rather than someone stroking their ego with some vain number.
I am an ACQUIRED TASTE, not for those still nursing on the sered teat.
I would rather have those of FIBER read the post than those who seek
to be molled like bad ale.

[NotFinishedYet]

One thing I've noticed also is that there are some here who are trained in formal debate techniques. Often they are going up against someone who hasn't been or who thinks they are just having a regular conversation with someone else. I often see these discussion kinda like a shark going for a baby seal: not pleasant outcome at all. One trick I see used quite often is to force the responder into the defensive mode, getting them to answer questions that have nothing or little to do with the thing they objected to. This leads them into falsely answering for things they never said or implied and takes them off track or their original challenge. Here are some examples (stolen from the web, of course, at Propaganda and Debating Techniques) of debating techniques to watch for:

* Refute By Example
* Refute By Exposing Contradiction
* Minimization and Denial
* Instant Denial
* Understatement
* Admit a Small Fault to Cover a Big Denial
* False Comparison
* Give a Non-reason Reason
* Divert Attention — Change the Subject
* The Positive Accomplishments Sidestep
* Declare Victory
* The Story Sourcing Distraction
* The Drama Queen
* The Personal Loyalty Red Herring
* Deflect Criticism and Blame By Deligitimizing It
* Answer A Question That Was Not Asked (To Avoid Answering One That Was Asked)
* Answer a Question With A Question
* Surfeit of Questions (Plurium Interrogationum)
* Monopolizing the Question (Hypophora)
* Obfuscate
* Attack Without Appearing To Attack By Using Paralipsis or Apophasis)
* Sarcasm, Condescension, and Patronizing Attitudes
* **** with Faint Praise
* Reductio Ad Absurdum
* Rationalize
* Exchange A Term
* Frame The Argument
* Argue with Unrealistic Hypothetical Situations
* Misrepresent Your Opponent's Position, or Mischaracterize Your Opponent, or Mischaracterize His Statements or Questions
* Nit-Pick and Split Hairs
* Quibble
* Hit And Run
* Hifalutin' Denunciations
* Make Unreasonable Demands
* Make False Demands
* Shift the Burden of Proof Onto Your Opponent
* Demand an Uneven Burden of Proof
* Demand Uneven Standards of Acceptance
* Specious Argument
* Spurious Agreement
* Escape via Ignorance
* Escape to the Future
* Escape via Relativism
* Escape via Irrationality
* Pack the House
* Embarrass Your Opponent
* Obtuseness — Refuse to See the Point
* Laugh It Off
* Dominate the Conversation, Talk Non-Stop, and Interrupt Constantly
* Escape via Bullying and Intimidation

You hang around with these folks long enough you see them using the same terms (relativism, strawmen, etc) that indicates their training. Just an FYI.

Originally Posted by NotFinishedYet

....One trick I see used quite often is to force the responder into the defensive mode, getting them to answer questions that have nothing or little to do with the thing they objected to.......

ZING!
LOL. I have been on both the receiving end and delivering end.

You hit a home run with that one.