No; we can&#x27;t define trolling by referring to intent. It&#x27;s a behavior.<p>The trolling intent does lead to a persistent, repetitive, long-term behavior: pushing the same buttons to obtain the same response.<p>There may be an agenda behind it: to keep that topic current and frequent in that forum, so that any newcomer to the forum sees mostly that discussion and nothing else.<p>The troll says: you are irrational in your beliefs, and I will keep stirring that up month after month, so that the forum is replete with exposure of this fact.<p>There may be some agenda behind it. Sometimes it is explicit or can be inferred (like promoting something). Sometimes it remains hidden.<p>If someone has a trolling intent, but fizzles away after one round, then we can&#x27;t externally tell whether that was a would-be troll or someone genuinely curious. The behavior has to define it.