It most certainly is. We've had a number of provocateurs who would mercilessly bait us, and when someone finally made an intemperate response -- whammo! -- the abuse button got pushed. Several of the bad guys got banned, but we lost a few also. The tactic is still very much in use. That's why "Virtual Ignore" is my guiding principle in dealing with them. You can smell a troll a mile away, and when you do, ignore him.
You know, I never before considered this game of baiting people, tho mind you, several times I have felt baited, and often I felt that my response was a bit bad, and it was at those times I thought I might wind up being suspended, tho it never did happen...so I will take your tagline more to heart in the future, and hopefully just ignore those who I feel are doing the baiting...'Virtual Ignore', is indeed fine advice...