Bear in mind that some of the information regarding trolls is horribly graphic, and quite dangerous for me to post about, so I'm restricted to very basic explanations. According to Encyclopaedia Dramatica (do yourself a favor and avoid that website), a troll is "most commonly encountered on the internet... any person who purposely causes controversy in a web community." Basically, the definition speaks for itself. A jerk on the internet. Someone who will fight an argument by using your sexual orientation, regardless of whether or not you've even mentioned it at all. Someone who can and will ignore all your carefully picked arguments just to spite you. You know, like arguing with a fool, except these guys know exactly what they're doing.
I think basically, trolls are the direct result of those who were bullied, harassed, or picked on by tougher people (i.e. insert random high school stereotype above "geek" on the social ladder) from the generation in which being technologically savvy was looked extremely unfavorably upon. Being unable to fight back in person, they had to get clever. And there it was: the internet. A vast expanse of anonymity that these people could utilize to stage their revenge. Trolling can range in severity from a simple "brittney sux" in a forum dedicated to the iconic pop idol, to something as thoughtless and evil as the mockery of a teen who committed suicide (see links at the bottom). FOX News has done segments on Trolls and Trolling, but sadly a lot of the information is quite... for lack of a better phrase, just incorrect.
The dangers of trolling can go far beyond just simple bouts of online "flaming," however. Some examples of extreme trolling include Denial of Service Attacks (DoS), Dedicated Denial of Service Attacks (DDoS), and hacking. 4chan, an image board website based on the popular Japanese 2chan, is commonly accredited to being the biggest cesspit full of trolls and hatred on the internet (and in my opinion, the world).
Trolling, which can be compared to online bullying in some respects (thought notably more sinister), is easy to avoid. First of all, I really don't know what to say other than it's just the internet. These people don't really affect you in any way for the most part, so why does their opinion matter? I find it personally helps me to ignore them just by knowing that their intent is simply to annoy me. Secondly, don't respond to them. And I can't stress this enough.
DO NOT ARGUE WITH A TROLL. IT MEANS THEY WIN.
DO NOT FEED THE TROLLS.
So, there you have it. What do I think of trolls? I'm not really sure. I'm somewhat ambivalent on the topic. I can't help but wonder if maybe trolls are kind of like the internet's rendition of natural selection, like a twisted form of antibody for the organism that is the Internet. But I also think that perhaps trolls represent an inborn evil in all of us that comes to the surface when you push a human to their limits. Not only that inborn evil, but how captivating it is to give in to it. But make no mistake, trolls are dangerous. Bank accounts have been frozen, lives have literally been ruined by them.
Links
11 comments:
There is a difference between trolls and cyber terrorists. Trolling does not include freezing bank accounts, etc. Also, don't talk about Fight Club.
Being a gamer, i run into trolls all the time. sometimes they find the right buttons to press and sometimes they don't. personally, the best cure for a troll is to just agree with them. An example is when I was play Halo one night, I was 'scrapping' the other team and when the troll began to speak to me he took shots at my sexuality. In turn I just agreed with him and the rest of the game he as quiet.
Okay... besides the obvious snipe at the Republican Party, i would have to say that people who are cyber bullied only experience such because they make themselves vulnerable and they need to deal with the repercussions of their actions. If a child is attacked because of their foolish actions, then the parents need to take responsibility for the actions of their children and "man it out".
In my opinion, "trolls" are an essential component of the internet. The "controversy" that they cause is overwhelmingly harmless, and is done in good nature.
However, all of this discussion on the so-called negative effects of trolling (DDoS'ing, firing mah lazer type attacks) are dependent on what you actually define to be a troll. To my understanding, and (Encyclopaedia Dramatica's, in some regard), a troll is someone who deliberately causes CONTROVERSY on a web community (as you have already stated.) This does NOT encapsulate DDoS'ing. That is known as a raid. This does NOT encapsulate bank account hacking. That is known as a felony.
And by the way, trolling is what makes 4chan so genius.
That is all.
Well, Vincent, while it's true that trolling is, to say the least, annoying, and, to say the most, frustrating. My definition of a troll includes everyone who purposefully makes inane or otherwise derrogatory and pointless comments for their own entertainment. I find it hard to believe, Ryan, that this type of behavior is an essential component of serious forum and debate in any way, though you and I define the word "troll" differently.
It is my personal conviction that trolling is an unfortunate side-effect of our increasingly technological world. While 4chan is a whole other can of worms that I sincerely do not want to discuss, it's easy to conclude that such sites are inevitable side effects to our increasingly technological society, a fact that is, unfortunately, a mute point.
It's unfortunate that trolling is so much fun, though. The idea of being able to act like a jerk anonymously is usually funny to the troll and entertaining (and don't tell me none of you have ever done a little trolling yourselves before). In the end, people will be people, and the internet will be the internet, and everything we find there needs to be taken with a grain of salt, as Vincent has said.
Ryan, I am not really sure if Encyclopaedia Dramatica should be used as the authority on the definition of the term. Most people agree with Vincent's definition of the word. It is of course a good thing to inspire controversy, but doing so by being a troll is normally more hurtful and more like harassment than anything else.
It is my sincere belief that trolls are not necessary and in fact create a better atmosphere for the Internet when they do not exist. There is a reason why most moderators in forums get rid of trolls: to keep discussion civil, organized, and informative for its readers. Troll posts are almost always spam and break proper discussion into vulgarities and meaningless ad hominem attacks. We don't troll outside of the Internet since it always degrades the quality of conversation.
Also, I completely disagree with you on your so-called "genius" of 4chan. Talking about the merits of 4chan is probably not a good idea, however, so I would rather not talk about it.
Bobby, I didn't break Rules 1 and 2. So no b&.
Tim, can you elaborate on what you meant by a snipe at the Republican Party? I didn't mean to offend, if that's how you took whatever it was that you were referring to.
Ryan, yeah, I was wrong about the raiding part. Sometimes I tend to blur the line since raids and trolls alike both share the same common goal of generating lulz. But I was also trying to market this in a way that would generate interest. I've been responsible for my own fair share of trolling in the past, and in many ways I can agree with your statements about the good-natured element (within reason) of trolling, which I somewhat mention in my statement about them being the Internet's antibodies. However, my main purpose of the post was to inform on how to deal with them (veiled in anecdotes and ranting) and it's hard to warn people about something you support. You know what I mean?
Alex, I agree also with the broadening of your definition of them. Sometimes I dismiss even people in real life as trolls when I find their comments to be of the nature you would encounter on the internet. Also, about trolling being fun: it's all in how captivating violence is. Coupled with the factor of not getting caught (as you've mentioned), sometimes it would seem foolish not to do it.
Charlie, trolling does occur outside of the internet, it just has a different word for it; it happens constantly at Aragon, especially if you are there 7th period in the library. As Alex said, people will be people and trolls (exactly like in real life jerks) are just evidence of such. You can wish for humanity to plateau to a point of never murdering, stealing or raping again, but I think it's safe to assume that's a plateau well beyond the reach of anyone, at least in our generation.
Trolls. There is probably nothing in the world that frustrates me so as a troll. It is true, however, that they will not do any real harm. Yes, the best course of action is to ignore them. But that is easier said than done...
Vincent, can you clarify what you mean by referring to trolls as "the internet's rendition of natural selection"? I assume that you mean that they are there to weed out the people who don't know how to deal with them? If that is the case, then I do not see how that is a good thing. Trolls do nothing whatsoever to enhance the quality of internet discussion, whether directly or indirectly.
Happily, I am a member of a certain fairly large Internet community (which I will resist the temptation to plug here) which is entirely free of trolls (no exaggeration), though I suspect that some members may troll in other Internet forums. I do not know what accounts for this surprising lack of trolls in this home community of mine, but I suspect it has something to do with stricter enforcement. In that sense, perhaps there is some natural selection going on. When an Internet community somehow learns to discourage trolls, its quality will be much improved, and perhaps, hopefully, its chances of survival will improve accordingly.
Jack, I meant natural selection from a fairly biased standpoint: to keep away people who, for lack of a better term, would ruin the internet.
In that case, I disagree. Trolls are the people who ruin the Internet. Was there something worse that you had in mind?
I think an example of people who would ruin the internet would be members of the Australian Government who seek to regulate the internet. Part of what actually makes the internet so captivating is the (occasionally) audacious free expression, even if it does seem excessive or wrong at times. Fewer people would enjoy the internet if it were being monitored. The internet, like films and video games, provides an escape from the painful reality we have to face each day. Would you want someone to follow you around wherever you went in real life, making sure you were doing what they thought was okay?
In any case, how are trolls any worse than real life jerks? I find myself a little more disappointed in those, because the effects they have on the psyche are, in my experience, more severe than trolling. You get trolled, you just leave the website. No harm done. You get bullied, well... I don't think I have to go there, in light of the news lately.
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