In 1999, a chain letter began to matriculate around online message boards. The goal? Get New Kids On The Block’s 1989 music video Hangin’ Tough on Total Request Live. Why? Cuz it wud b funny lmao.
After weeks of would-be trolls stuffing the online ballot box, the folks at TRL were left with a decision: Succumb to the mob's mischief or risk delegitimizing the democracy of their countdown. Told from the people who were there, TR(ol)L shows a catalytic moment in Internet history that helped birth modern online trolling and still influences keyboard pranksters -- and their hilariously cheeky viral campaigns -- to this day.