How do you troll well?

Trolls, as I understand it, are trying to make trouble. They are trying to instigate people into serious anger and frustration. I think they bring up hot button topics and then start in with personal attacks.

If it’s just personal attacks, then I get it. It’s pretty easy. But is there more to it than that? I have this funny feeling that trolling should be a skill I should add to my repertoire. However, whenever I think of it, I find I can’t imagine taking a position on a topic that I didn’t actually believe. I think it would be very difficult for me to pretend to be something I’m not.

I suppose I could do the personal attack thing, but again, I don’t think my heart would be in it. I just don’t want to hurt people if I can avoid it.

So what is the mentality of a troll? Do they have to have a split personality? Are they just angry? Do they think it’s fun to stir up hornet’s nests? If so, why? But most importantly, how to they do it well, and what psychology enables them to do it well.