baiting / trolling ?

I'd like to understand baiting / trolling guidelines a little better, as a result of my recent thread being closed.

The section on Forum rules is somewhat vague:

Forum rules said:

3. Baiting/Flaming/Trolling - To bait someone in a general sense is to make a comment with a purposeful intent to coerce some form of response from the individual. In some cases this device can be a useful tool of debate, eliciting responses to highlight a point or reveal an underlying truth concerning someone’s argument. However, in other cases the intent of the bait is less focused on debating.

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Going by that definition, my thread was (I thought clearly) meant to "elicit responses to highlight a point or reveal an underlying truth concerning someone’s argument". Is that bad? I made a general point about DP opinions and provided supporting quotes.

(1) How was my thread considered any more of a baiting than say signature lines of many DP posters quoting someone else? Would not such signature quotes constitute much more of a baiting?

(2) Would it be better if I reopened the 13 older threads that I had quoted and quoted each individual in those threads with the same point in each one? It seems like that would be in line with pretty much how all threads are being discussed on this forum. However, I find it odd that this approach would be better than just starting a single thread devoted to the topic. Further, in some threads that would border on hijacking a thread, so I thought separating out a new thread is a better idea.

(3) Whenever possible, I prefer to have threads with links that support my point of view. So if I am arguing that many DP posters expressed a certain opinion, should I not be allowed to provide the quotes for it?

I am genuinely interested in understanding how I violated the forum rules with that thread and how I should have made my point while also proving it at the same time?

Thanks!