 |
| John Bauer from The Boy Who Was Never Afraid |
Trollnoun
a dwarf or giant in Scandinavian folklore inhabiting caves or hillsOR
Troll
Also a noun
One who posts a deliberately provocative message to a newsgroup or message board with the intention of causing maximum disruption and argument.AKA a jerkwadian, toad brained, bottom feeding thug.
My buddy Infidel has a great post up about this phenom and how he deals with them.
"This is a blog, not a discussion forum -- it's my space. Freedom of speech gives a person the right to put a political bumper sticker on his car. It doesn't give him the right to put that same bumper sticker on my car, not unless I choose to let him. It's amazing how many people don't grasp this point."
YES – THIS! I wholly agree. In Tell Me a Story’s seven and a half years (*gulp*), I’ve only gotten a couple trollish comments. (YEA!) That’s not a big surprise though – this isn’t, primarily, a political blog. Know where I’ve gotten the most bomb throwing asswipes? On my ShoutyFace page. Yes. The offending parties, as friends of friends, were welcomed into the fold. Only later, and after much expended diplomacy (that shit’s HARD work and way exhausting mon ami!) did I get that these were NOT friends in the making, nope. These were rock-solid citizens of Too-Unevolved-to-Get-On-This-Ride-Land.It’s weird and disappointing as all bloody hell to find out that a friend, or friend of friend, is a straight up, bullying personalità primitiva – an indiscriminate brawler.
Infidel went on to clarify:
"Not everybody who disagrees with me is a troll. I almost never reject a comment just because of disagreement. It's when somebody adopts a rude or hectoring or superior tone, or a particular person never comments except to criticize and attack, or they hijack a thread off-topic -- well, it's obvious when you see it. I know that rudeness is pervasive on the Internet, to the extent of being accepted by many people as part of the norm. I don't care. I won't put up with it here."Again, YES – THIS!
Troll Babe pronounced that Mrs. Romney was an infinitely better human than I, pointing to all her charitable works. Ya know, if I was a multi-millionaire (with multiple mansions, car elevators and dancing horses) I’d be mega philanthropic too. Yeah, faced with an irresistible opportunity to condescend, insult, claim moral and intellectual superiority...well gosh....her own personal politics and the facts about Romney donations were irrelevant.
I'm no longer slow to block these avatars of antagonism, these cretins in search of a cheap brawl. Nope. We CAN respectfully disagree AND discuss but ya better come packing more than neuroses and alt-facts.
Go read Infidel's full post on trolls – it's a honey! Also, his Improving Words post – with much better definitions such as: Bishop: A store for bisexuals – is hilarious.
Thanks for the cites! They do seem to plague political blogs more than others, though you never know what some particular individual will have an OCD bee in his bonnet about.
ReplyDeleteIt's possible to know someone surprisingly closely, and for a surprisingly long time, and still discover that in some important way they aren't what you thought. It can be disturbing.
The point about the type who "never comments except to criticize and attack" is important. If you notice somebody who's like that, they're probably the kind of person who thrives on conflict, and will be exhausting to deal with if you let them take root.
Here in the northwest there's actually a chain of stores called Bi-Mart. No idea how they came up with the name. I've never quite had the nerve to go in and ask if you actually have to be bi to shop there.
Oh maaaan, I want to shop at Bi-Mart NOW!
DeleteBi-Mart is awesome, and closer than Wally World!
DeleteInfidel's post will join Twelve Ways To Spot A Bot at the top of my blogroll (might have to mess with his name a bit).
ReplyDeleteTwelve ways was written to the Twit communication system, but to my tracking and observation applies as a general application across the cybersphere.
~ Bots are an inseparable part of life on Twitter. Many are entirely legitimate; those which are not legitimate tend to have key characteristics in common.
~ The most common indicators are activity, anonymity, and amplification, the “Three A’s” of bot identification; but other criteria also exist. The use of stolen images, alphanumeric handles, and mismatched names can reveal a fake account; so, too, can a slew of commercial posts, or posts in a wide range of languages.
~ What is most important, however, is awareness. Users who can identify bots themselves are less likely to be manipulated by them; they may even be able to report the botnets and have them shut down. Ultimately, bots exist to influence human users. The purpose of this article is to help human users spot the signs.
In all cases, it is important to note that no single factor can be relied upon to identify bot-like behavior. It is the combination of factors which is important. The most signifcant three are the “Three A’s”: activity, anonymity, and amplification.
This is the best I have found, you should read it.
Thanks Thomas!
Delete