Posted on 07/04/2009 3:13:53 PM PDT by steve-b
Consider this a public service announcement - like one of those "More You Know" segments on Saturday morning TV or one of those "Knowledge is Power" bits from G.I. Joe.
Today's topic is "trolling," a common practice on forums, message boards and blog comments. The Urban Dictionary defines trolling as "the act of purposefully antagonizing other people on the internet" usually just because you can.
By why would anyone do this? Are people really so bored that they see insulting other people as a form of entertainment? There are a lot of complex psychological factors involved with trolling, but I think the root of the problem comes from not knowing (or caring) about the difference between good attention and bad attention.
Just like Bart Simpson, they don't know the difference between good attention, like the kind you get for getting straight A's versus bad attention, like the kind you get for making the sinks overflow in the boy's bathroom.
It's the attention itself that matters. Trolls choose bad attention because it's so much easier to get. The way human beings are wired, we are quick to respond to bad things and lamentably slow to recognize good ones.
Come onto a forum and be a good boy for six weeks. Contribute constructively to discussions, write mature, thoughtful replies and do your best to get along with everyone and maybe every couple months someone will thank you or mention how helpful you are.
So you get a little drop of attention for being good. Or you can come onto a forum and act like a total jerk. Lash out with insults, profanity and accusations of racism and mental illness. Do this and you can get tons of attention. Big virtual buckets of attention. People will stop what they're doing, give up on their current discussions and devote hours of their time to you.
Sure, they'll hate you, but you can crawl in bed every night and know that you really matter. You can rest easy knowing that you are dominating the thoughts and controlling the emotions of dozens of total strangers. You are the center of attention. You are in control.
That's the most basic kind of trolling: saying stupid stuff on the Internet so you can sidetrack the discussion and get people shouting at you. But not all trolls are equal. There's the idiot troll who lashes out blindly and fights with anyone dumb enough to respond. There's the passive-aggressive troll who makes little insinuations and delivers targeted insults until somebody decides to fight back. And then we have the artist, a troll who knows exactly what he's doing and treats the whole thing like a game.
These trolls can be hard to spot because they pride themselves on their ability to blend in with the crowd. I'm writing this column because I saw a fantastic troll last week.
Please note that "troll" can be used to refer to a person who is trolling for attention or as a noun to describe the attempt itself.
This troll occurred on the io9 Sci-Fi blog in a thread titled "Shia May Be Our Last Man After All." It's a post about Shia LeBeouf's interest in the movie adaptation of Brian K. Vaughan's "Y: The Last Man."
Sci-Fi fans hate Shia LeBeouf the way ordinary people hate Keanu Reeves. He's a blank slate who looks like a generic movie hero but has no real depth to his performances. Whether you agree with that or not, it's the common opinion among Sci-Fi fans.
A user named "OMG! Ponies!" wrote:
"I loved his work in 'Holes'. Ever since then, I have thought of Shia LaBeouf as quite possibly the greatest actor of his generation. He is the reason that 'Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull' was such a worthy addition to the franchise and he has been the main reason that I saw 'Transformers' three times in the movie theatre.
"It's easy to forget how taut 'Eagle Eye' was as a technothriller because of Shia's star turn in 'Disturbia'. For those who do not bother with DVD extras, watch any of the interviews with Shia on the DVDs and you will see what an intelligent, nuanced artist Shia is. He can turn even the most mundane sci-fi flick into a thought-provoking exercise on what it is to be young and American in the 21st century.
"We may be looking at the next Paul Newman in Shia."
Inspiring a user named "transbastard" to write:
"This is AAA trolling right there. None of the usual warning signs, dead-pan delivery and increasing madness to the very end. You must be a blackbelt in troll-fu."
This is an example of advanced trolling. Not just blindly insulting people, but inciting virtual riots by sincerely advocating outlandish positions that you don't actually believe.
The Internet is full of obsessive-compulsive trivia hawks who live for the thrill of correcting people who make incorrect statements about pop culture. Artistic trolling doesn't target ordinary people. Any idiot can storm onto a political board and shout, "Republicans suck!"
Skillful trolling isn't about shouting at people; it's about being totally calm and reasonable and inviting OCD trivia geeks to shout at you. I played this game in the alt.religion.kibology newsgroup in the early '90s, baiting Star Trek geeks and Star Wars fanatics to try and provoke the maximum reaction for minimum effort. Sometimes I would cross-post between the Star Trek and Star Wars groups and make incorrect statements about both franchises at the same time.
The trick is to make a perfectly banal statement that happens to contain a tiny bit of misinformation - something obscure that only a superfan would know. For example, "Geordi was great, but not as witty as Scotty in Star Trek 8."
Of course, Scotty wasn't in Star Trek 8. Scotty was in Star Trek 7. No normal human being would care about this mistake, but to hardcore fans this is the equivalent of misquoting scripture. Advanced trolling would be to post this comment on a Star Trek board and count how many people correct you. People who correct you with insults, profanity or extended screeds about how stupid you are count for double points.
So there are two lessons here. First, don't be a troll. It's a transparent ploy for attention and adults really should be above this behavior. And second, don't be too quick to insult people who get things wrong on the Internet. They're probably just innocent people who don't deserve the abuse. Or they could be posting misinformation on purpose so when you respond with anger the joke is on you.
troll-bump
I thought that “The Wrath of the Jedi” was far superior to “Revenge of Khan”.
troll=bait me...
This makes no since, absoluetly none.
ps. anybody who owns a pitbull is an anti-social maroon.
I figured you would find this thread when you saw it described you perfectly. Right? ;-)
Now that's how it's done.
Nam Vet
Damn and I have been laying low for nine years ready to pounce!
You are a stealthy little beggar I will give ya that.......looking at yer 4th cannon ops .....ROTFLMAO !
You did get this on you tube didn’t ya ??? Please say ya did !!
Coming soon to a Youtube near you.
Mostly waiting on Eaker & TheMom to send me their shots to incorporate.
Otherwise I never get into the show.
Awesome .......LOL !
Moi? *flutters eyelashes*
My camera is kinda old, it takes a while to download the pictures.
On the way..........
My response is a comment without reading the article.
Pop Rocks and Coca Cola (the original recipe, not that new, sugary crap).
Mikey was actually grew up to be a particle physicist. He really died in an attempt to build the first warp drive.
You're mighty brave saying that from behind a keyboard. I bet you wouldn't pull this crap in person, tough guy!
;-)
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