Trolling is posting something with the intent to annoy or to generate a negative reaction from other people. It can be interpreted as anything for which it is reasonably foreseeable (in the moderators' opinion) that someone will react to it. It can be a very grey issue, and moderators will use their discretion and judgment. Examples of things that are generally considered trolling are as follows:
• Extending a negative issue to a wide group of people. For example, if one member of a group, religion, political persuasion or ethnicity does something bad, a post that implies that all members of this group, religion, political persuasion or ethnicity are similar, this is considered trolling.
• Posting a very negative topic or post about a certain group. Eg. "Why are all (race, gender, ethnicity, political affiliation) stupid / fat / boring" etc.
• Discussing the person, and not the topic. Ad hominems are generally not tolerated. We want people to focus on the discussion topic, not on the people discussing it. As a guideline, if your post only discusses the person (eg. their opinions, their background etc.) and is not related to the topic, you may be considered to be trolling. Discussing the poster, when civil and directly relevant to the topic, may be tolerated.
• Using personal information gained about people to attack them, or to get them to react in an unrelated thread. E.g. if you know that someone has gone to a certain university, works a certain profession, or is a certain religion, making oblique comments about this may be considered trolling (even if you don't mention the posters specifically).
• Mocking someone by copying their posting style, thread topics, spelling, language etc.
• Posting a thread on a controversial topic, but not posting anything that is really a point for discussion.
• Generally being rude. Being overly critical, or expressing your opinions in a rude manner.
• Passing comments on the style with which another poster posts, or the quality of their posts - stick to discussing the points they are making.