It's been noted by
religiopoliticosatirical Slashdot trolls (it's even in the
HOWTO) that if a
troll post is immediately
moderated down, then everybody who sees it knows it's a
troll -- but if the first
moderator who sees it bumps it up as "
interesting" or "
insightful", then all the
Slashbots will take it seriously and respond with a straight face. The whole perception of the thing will vary drastically depending on that little number next to the
subject line.
I'm not sure precisely what this tells us about
human nature (or else it's too
trite to repeat), but I've noticed that
my trolls here on E2 will often get voted down until somebody
cools them, at which point they'll start drifting methodically back up to zero, and often above.
On
E2, it doesn't mater worth a damn, because they're equally visible regardless of
reputation. (
Nukings are another matter, but I've been spared so far.)
Moderation on
Slashdot is different, because they have a system of "
thresholds", whereby a user will, by default, see only those
posts with a score of at least +1. To see lower-ranked
posts at all requires an expenditure of will, effort, and
hand-eye coordination which strains the competence of the average
Slashbot. For that reason, the
trolling HOWTO recommends a relatively benign initial troll, followed by much more inflammatory secondary trolls. There's a fine line there: If you're
too benign, nobody will get pissed off.
Trolling may be a moronic and useless art form, but an art form it surely is.