Biffs, Trolls and Shills

DocMartin

I am fairly new to this forum - although not the site itself. I have seen these terms used in some of the more argumentative threads - which I find fascinating, I have to say. I think I know what a Shill is now but I'm unclear on the Trolls and and I've just seen "Biff" on another thread.

Would one of the more enlightened users explain these terms to me, here, please? - and perhaps any other similar terms that I might come accross ?

Thanks in advance

Milarky

'Troll' means someone who deliberately posts inflamatory comments on bulletin boards to stir up a argument (aka 'flame wars')

'Shill' means someone who pretends to be independent of another poster and offers flattering praise of them (particularly where they seem to be promoting or offering a product) to lull third parties into treating the original claims with credibility

a 'Biff' I have never heard of but Answers.com appears to suggest it might have the meaning (here) of someone who constantly 'bumps' threads to the front of the forum simply because they share the OP's agenda???

drsue_2

DocMartin wrote: »

I am fairly new to this forum - although not the site itself. I have seen these terms used in some of the more argumentative threads - which I find fascinating, I have to say. I think I know what a Shill is now but I'm unclear on the Trolls and and I've just seen "Biff" on another thread.

Would one of the more enlightened users explain these terms to me, here, please? - and perhaps any other similar terms that I might come accross ?

Thanks in advance

troll in Internet slang, is someone who posts controversial and irrelevant or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum