*mentions*
Taken by me at ACEN 2008.
*is not a 4channer, btw, so don't worry* :D
Posted on 08/01/2008 12:50:41 PM PDT by reaganaut1
...
In the late 1980s, Internet users adopted the word “troll” to denote someone who intentionally disrupts online communities. Early trolling was relatively innocuous, taking place inside of small, single-topic Usenet groups. The trolls employed what the M.I.T. professor Judith Donath calls a “pseudo-naïve” tactic, asking stupid questions and seeing who would rise to the bait. The game was to find out who would see through this stereotypical newbie behavior, and who would fall for it. As one guide to trolldom puts it, “If you don’t fall for the joke, you get to be in on it.”
Today the Internet is much more than esoteric discussion forums. It is a mass medium for defining who we are to ourselves and to others. Teenagers groom their MySpace profiles as intensely as their hair; escapists clock 50-hour weeks in virtual worlds, accumulating gold for their online avatars. Anyone seeking work or love can expect to be Googled. As our emotional investment in the Internet has grown, the stakes for trolling — for provoking strangers online — have risen. Trolling has evolved from ironic solo skit to vicious group hunt.
“Lulz” is how trolls keep score. A corruption of “LOL” or “laugh out loud,” “lulz” means the joy of disrupting another’s emotional equilibrium. “Lulz is watching someone lose their mind at their computer 2,000 miles away while you chat with friends and laugh,” said one ex-troll who, like many people I contacted, refused to disclose his legal identity.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Well. I guess that was edifying. Sort of. Young people with too much time on their hands. They should be out hoeing weeds in the potato patch, or helping with the sausage-making, or delivering groceries. Looks like a whole new leisure-class world. The article was depressing, too. I read the whole thing...DEFINITELY too much time on their hands.
As an “experienced” moderator (Geez, do I have experience at it over the years) I’m going to state quite emphatically that ignoring them is not always the right way to deal with them.
Dealing with trolls depends on several things, and it takes someone as a moderator who is capable of being quick on his or her feet - well, in thinking anyway.
If you’re moderating a site, such as this one for instance, you have to take into account the rules of the site and the intent of the poster. Some people really AREN’T trolls, but ignorant people (I don’t mean that in a bad way, I mean they are not educated on a subject or they have been MISeducated with the wrong information.)
In my time with this stuff, I moderated boards that were related to things like UFOs, alien abductions, conspiracy theories, urban legends... you name it. We “entertained” MANY ideas.
Throughout my time doing this I reminded myself often that I am a skeptic, but I kept an open mind, with a bent to reading the material and looking at sources of information. (Something that few people really do).
We “hired” moderators (we didn’t pay anyone, they were volunteers, but we had them give us reasons why we should give them the privileges of moderating the site) and we tried to have people who have various points of view but could still, OBJECTIVELY examine ideas and material and interject opinion or information to help a thread along.
Over the years we had several who stated that “Moderators and Admins should NOT have an opinion” - and usually this was coming from those who trolled.
Sometimes I wonder why more “mods” here don’t have an “opinion” - but I can see advantages for them rarely posting one as well.... still... we didn’t dissuade our folks from posting exactly what they thought.
So, it comes down to many, many things. There’s really no one way to deal with trolls.
However, I will state that there is ONE way that always works... at least for awhile.
That way is: Ban them, IP ban them and make sure everyone knows who they are.
I don’t believe in “Anonymity”. I use my real name, and I have no problem is standing by the things I say here on FR or other sites. I take my time on “due diligence” for 90% of what I write (sometimes I get in a hurry, sometimes I might not elaborate on something ENOUGH and leave out information which makes people think I’m saying something other than I am saying. Sometimes, like this one, I talk way too much.
But I know in almost every thing I write, I’m RIGHT.
Trolls are a sneaky, snaky lot though and always labeling someone as a troll isn’t right either. Sometimes they aren’t really trolls.
(One BIG key to trolls is they make snarky comments, play “dumb” when the answer is quite obvious, and they almost ALWAYS, ALWAYS turn out to be someone who is a “I Hate Bush” type.... I’ve found in dealing with them since 1982 that many of them hated Bush, Reagan, they hate the Current Bush, or they will go back ‘in time’ and “hate” someone else, Nixon, or some other “Right wing” person. They will invariably go after Right Wingers as “racist” or “globalists”. They will, finally, when losing an argument, if they get deeply enough into a debate, of calling you a name.)
Over the years, I’ve taken to calling them names right off. I use the phrase “Dumbasses” to describe Liberals, Leftists, Socialists and Trolls.... so if you see me make that, then I’m using it in that vein.
Bump for later
Thank you so much - I have been scurrying around FreeRepublic for years but had little to contribute - trying to learn my way through the political landscape your membership offered.
One of your members began to include me in his essays and I felt honored to be part of that group - the ideas were always so full of new thought for me.
I do understand it must take a special kind of personality to be able to hang in there and not reach for an AK47 when it would ‘feel so good’.... to be fair and moderate isn’t within my personal attributes but I admire it in others.
I have made untold errors myself and still walk into walls of mistaken reading on my part but this place is the most
profitable for me to learn and understand and to thank those who make it possible for us to feel it is time well spent.
As I hope it is positive time spent for you too!
Again thanks and appreciation.
They should be outside digging ditch!
Hey... I need to make something clear. I’m a MEMBER here just like yourself. I’m NOT a moderator on this site.
Don’t assume I am :)
I have no aims, intention nor goal, let alone the ‘gumption’ to become one EITHER!!!!!!!!!!!!
:)
Just so we’re clear.
If you want to see where I USED to (and currently) moderate and administer, check my tag line for one and freepmail me for the other.
Rick
Thanks for clearing up yet another ‘misread’ on my part!
This coming from the NYTs, who were politically “group trolling” for decades before there were personal computers. Before the first two computers ever got hooked together.
The New York Times AKA the Red Rag Hag, is a rat warren of socialist trolls.
Yet when the NYTs plague Rats really want to attack someone or something, they always sign their vile hit pieces full of slander and lies, ‘The Editorial Board’.
Yes and those people are Post moderns who accept the absurd as the guiding morality in their lives:
“good and bad are subjective”
I've been smart enough so far to avoid putting anything about myself on the internet, at least direct information. I'm also smart enough to know that anyone pulling my posts could pinpoint who I am and where I live to within 300 miles. Of course, my demographic is still large enough that I'm pretty anonymous. The good news is I NEVER use my real name anywhere. IMHO, anyone who creates that kind of public record is taking an enormous risk.
Noticed it myself in the article, right off.
I used to post under another, older ID here on Free Republic, but that fell under attack in the real world.
Many of the posters on this thread are being gulled by the horrible anecdote, which is how the Left gets its evil way.
It comes from a lack of understanding of the American legal system.
You've never been under assault by the government, or those in politics. They've got access to all the [free] legal talent they need to destroy your life. All they need is to be able to find out which jurisdiction you reside in, under what legal name.
They're actually the ultimate trolls.
Interesting. These trolls seem to feel towards all of humanity much the same way that NYT reporters feel towards conservatives...
The subtext of the article is pretty clear. The interweb is a wild, dangerous place crying out for much greater forced disclosure and regulation.
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