Anyone who enjoys stirring up trouble on the Internet should give this a read:
When it comes to mods, the political model of Reddit is not so much a vast digital democracy, as it's often framed by fans and users, as online feudalism. Moderators like Violentacrez are given absolute control over their turf in exchange for keeping the kingdom of Reddit strong. Moderators become more or less powerful in direct relation to the number and popularity of the subreddits they moderate, so they try to take over other subreddits to boost their profile in the community. Inevitably, Reddit's administrators develop relationships with the most influential moderators. Like feuding medieval lords vying for the king's favor, moderators form alliances or wage epic flame wars over power struggles.
This is how Violentacrez, Reddit's creepiest user, also became its most powerful.
My rule for trolling is that it has to deliver insights or entertainment equal to or greater than the attention it grabs. Of course, it's impossible to calculate that with actual precision, and there's another important rule: don't be evil. I think there are a lot of trolls who've never considered this one.
