[Leica] Internet Trolls

[bjq1 at mac.com (Bernard Quinn)]

Ric,

This is superb. Well said. Well written. Thanks for a really useful reminder.

Barney

Barney Quinn, WK3Z
C: (301) 775-1386
H: (301) 654-0938

On Jan 16, 2013, at 8:19 PM, Ric Carter <ricc at embarqmail.com> wrote:

> What is a Troll?
> 
> An Internet ?troll? is a person who delights in sowing discord on the 
> Internet. He (and it is usually he) tries to start arguments and upset 
> people.
> 
> Trolls see Internet communications services as convenient venues for their 
> bizarre game. For some reason, they don?t ?get? that they are hurting real 
> people. To them, other Internet users are not quite human but are a kind 
> of digital abstraction. As a result, they feel no sorrow whatsoever for 
> the pain they inflict. Indeed, the greater the suffering they cause, the 
> greater their ?achievement? (as they see it).
> 
> Trolls are utterly impervious to criticism (constructive or otherwise). 
> You cannot negotiate with them; you cannot cause them to feel shame or 
> compassion; you cannot reason with them. They cannot be made to feel 
> remorse. For some reason, trolls do not feel they are bound by the rules 
> of courtesy or social responsibility.
> 
> Why Do They Do It?
> 
> Affirmation.
> 
> Trolls crave attention, and they care not whether it is positive or 
> negative. They see the Internet as a mirror into which they can gaze in 
> narcissistic rapture.
> 
> If you want a deeper analysis than that, perhaps a psychologist can shed 
> some additional light on the matter.
> 
> Why Does it Matter?
> 
> The sad fact is that trolls discourage people. Established posters may 
> leave a message board because of the arguments that trolls ignite, and 
> lurkers may decide that they do not want to expose themselves to abuse and 
> thus never get involved.
> 
> Another problem is that the negative emotions stirred up by trolls leak 
> over into other discussions. Normally affable people can become bitter 
> after reading an angry interchange between a troll and his victims, and 
> this can poison previously friendly interactions between long-time users.
> 
> Finally, trolls create a paranoid environment, such that a casual 
> criticism by a new arrival can elicit a ferocious and inappropriate 
> backlash.
> 
> What Can be Done about Trolls?
> 
> ??The only way to deal with trolls is to limit your reaction to reminding 
> others not to respond to trolls.??
> 
> When you try to reason with a troll, he wins. When you insult a troll, he 
> wins. When you scream at a troll, he wins. The only thing that trolls 
> can?t handle is being ignored.
> 
> What Not to Do
> 
> It is futile to try to ?cure? a troll of his obsession. But perhaps you 
> simply cannot bear the hostile environment that the troll is creating and 
> want to go away for a while.
> 
> If you do that, then for the sake of the others on the system, do not post 
> a dramatic ?Goodbye!? message. This convinces the troll that he is winning 
> the battle. There is, perhaps, no message you can write that is as 
> damaging as an announcement that you are leaving because of the hostility 
> that the troll has kindled.
> 
> If you feel you must say something, a discreet message to the system 
> operator (and some of the others users, if you have their email addresses) 
> is the best course of action. If you are writing the letter in an agitated 
> state, it is a good idea to wait an hour and then give it one last review 
> before you actually send it. That might spare you the pain of saying 
> things that you don?t really mean to people you like.
> 
> The Webmaster?s Challenge
> 
> The moderator of a message board may not be able to delete a troll?s 
> messages right away, but their job is made much harder if they also have 
> to read numerous replies to trolls. They are also forced to decide whether 
> or not to delete posts from well-meaning folks which have the unintended 
> effect of encouraging the troll.
> 
> Perhaps the most difficult challenge for a webmaster is deciding whether 
> to take steps against a troll that a few people find entertaining. Some 
> trolls do have a creative spark and have chosen to squander it on being 
> disruptive. There is a certain perverse pleasure in watching some of them. 
> Ultimately, though, the webmaster has to decide if the troll actually 
> cares about putting on a good show for the regular participants, or is 
> simply playing to an audience of one ? himself.
> 
> What about Free Speech?
> 
> When trolls find that their efforts are being successfully resisted, they 
> often complain that their right to free speech is being infringed.
> 
> While most people on the Internet are ardent defenders of free speech, it 
> is not an absolute right; there are practical limitations. For example, 
> you may not scream out ?Fire!? in a crowded theatre, and you may not make 
> jokes about bombs while waiting to board an airplane. We accept these 
> limitations because we recognize that they serve a greater good.
> 
> The ultimate response to the ?free speech? argument is this: while we may 
> have the right to say more or less whatever we want, we do not have the 
> right to say it wherever we want. You may feel strongly about the fact 
> that your neighbour has not mowed his lawn for two months, but you do not 
> have the right to berate him in his own living room. Similarly, if a 
> webmaster tells a troll that he is not welcome, the troll has no ?right? 
> to remain. This is particularly true on the numerous free communications 
> services offered on the net. (On pay systems, the troll might be justified 
> in asking for a refund.)
> 
> 
> Conclusion
> 
> Next time you are on a message board and you see a post by somebody whom 
> you think is a troll, and you feel you must reply, simply write a 
> follow-up message entitled ?Troll Alert? and type only this:
> 
> The only way to deal with trolls is to limit your reaction to reminding 
> others not to respond to trolls.
> 
> By posting such a message, you let the troll know that you know what he 
> is, and that you are not going to get dragged into his twisted little 
> hobby.
> 
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