The Factiva Genealogy

Trolling is an Internet phenomenon, as well as a way of describing using a folkloric trope the main means used to provoke into being a Disinfolklore Galaxy. The Troll and Trolling metaphor has its origins in a Norwegian folktale “Three Billy-Goats’ Gruff.” My three-month-long trawl of the 35,000 source Dow Jones Factiva database demonstrated that this specific tale is the origin of every major troll craze in our culture since the 1950s.

Source: Book Proposal (May 2025)

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