Trolling is what people call it when someone uses the internet to insult someone with the goal of getting a rise out of them. Someone who trolls uses inflammatory language or starts arguments to provoke a reaction. For example, in the episode of ‘This American Life,’ the woman who spoke was trolled because someone impersonated her dead father and used his persona to insult her. They were attempting to upset her. In the episode, she says ‘never feed the troll,’ referring to the fact that if you are being trolled, you should not respond because it only gives the troller what they want.

In modern language, trolling refers to slowly dragging a lure or bait from the back of a fishing boat, to sort of lead the fish on. Translated to internet language, it refers to leading a person along, to encourage a reaction.