An AOLamer or AOL Lamer is a person using AOL that posts flamebait or other off-topic messages in a newsgroup in order to disrupt the newsgroup. America Online, or AOL for short, is a corporate online service provider and Internet service provider (ISP). ... Flamebait or trollbait is a message posted to an Internet discussion group, such as a newsgroup or a mailing list, with the intent of provoking an angry response (a flame). Various motives or explanations can be sought for this puzzling behavior; the desire for attention and the desire for entertainment... A message in a discussion is off-topic if its topic is different from the main topic in the discussion. ... Message in its most general meaning is the object of communication. ... A newsgroup is a repository, usually within the Usenet system, for messages posted from many users at different locations. ...

During the early 1990s, many regular non-AOL internet newsgroup users routinely killed all messages coming from AOL as many of the messages coming from AOL were non-informative. Events and trends The 1990s are generally classified as having moved slightly away from the more conservative 1980s, but keeping the same mind-set. ...

See also: internet troll

In addition, the term AOLamer is often used as a derogatory term for AOL subscribers by users of other internet service providers, who view AOL as a provider associated with people who know little about computers. In the context of the Internet, a troll is a message that is inflammatory or hostile, which by effect or design causes a disruptions in discourse, or a person posting such messages. ...