Puffball is a generic non-newbie online user, in a social or bvehavioral context. The word was coined in the early nineties in the Backstage host (moderator) conference (forum) on the WELL, to refer to anyone who was a real handful for a host to deal with or "moderate," including other hosts or
oldtimers.
(The term evokes the name of a
wild mushroom, the idea of an enlarged ego, and the concept of being ballsy, but it is a pure coinage and not a derivation.
It's semi-affectionate.)
Usage: "If puffball
goes off on a
rant in the middle of the one-word-sentence game, how do I get him to take that energy someplace where we can respond to it, so the other users aren't all yelling at me to make him
conform to the game?"
