Under the bridge

Seems to me that as the ability to comment on venues on the internet has grown exponentially, so has the Kingdom of the Trolls grown.

In recent months, trolls have appeared on various forums, including professional sites, personal blogs, feedback relating to articles and news broadcasts, online stores an the list continues to grow. One site, which will remain nameless, has been a valuable aid in upgrading my resume and finding potential jobs. In the past it was enjoyable to log in and chat about various job search and other issues with posters close to my age.

Alas, that day has passed. Any post to that discussion site at this time is likely to fall victim to flame attacks, personal insults and harassment, and general denigrating posts. Certain posters feel the need to nearly take over every thread and harass others. Members of the forum have tried, in vain up to now, to handle the trolls in a manner consistent with good manners and camaraderie but the trolls come back en masse, bringing their troll legions with them.

In reading through over 300 comments on a 60 Minutes story, I noticed that a good 40% or so (rough estimate based on 25 posts per screen with a minimum of 6 posts on any one screen from the same two individuals) were bantering between two posters, the same two harassing and insulting other commenters, and generally making nuisances of themselves. I don't know if this continued through the whole 300+ comments because I became so tired of scrolling like made to get past those two that I finally just gave up.*

The anonymity of the internet is one of it's greatest strengths and a growing weakness. Some sites have established near-draconian limitations on what can, and can't, be "said." I understand the need for that but also am saddened by that same need. Anonymity guarantees a poster can say anything, do anything, and be as obnoxious and grating as he/she/it wants but not be called on it.

A growing presence of various special-interest groups is also noted. I include them as trolls because of the rabid nature of their posts. The most vocal seems, in my limited surfing, to be fundamentalist religious groups of all descriptions. Some of the most hateful, threatening, and harassing posts have come from VRP defending their particular brand of religion. A really great illustration of that would be P. Z. Meyer's "crackergate." The gamut of posts ranged from promises of prayer hoping that he would return to the faith to literal threats of imminent death for him and harm to his family and loved ones. Some of the posters actually threatened to go to his home and assault him. One threatened harm to his children. A whole bunch contacted his employer and tried to get him dismissed. All because of a professed atheist's opinion on a religious sacrament.**

Another subcategory of troll is the illiterate. These people just make my skin crawl. From those who can't spell all the way through to those whose posts make absolutely no sense at all.*** If I can find the link to the site that lists a whole lot of comments from AFA members on the McDonald's boycott I will put it here. The comments ranged from only mildly brain-damaged to mentally comatose. If this is the level of intellectual functioning of members of the American Family Association it speaks volumes for the credulousness and illiteracy of fundamentalist folks.****

Trolls, being trolls for whatever reason, live to stir up trouble and gain attention for themselves. My opinion is that just ignoring them is the best course. It's a shame, though, when sites formerly enjoyed become uninhabitable because a clan of beasts have moved in under the bridge.





* What did interest me is a post by one of the trolls. In it he/she/it stated that public comment forums such as "this one" are good places to "try stuff out" since it's anonymous. What a jerk.
** I make no judgments on the wisdom, or not, of the post that set off the firestorm. It isn't my place to tell Dr. Myers what he can and can't post on his blog. 'nuff said. BTW: Google "crackergate" and you will find 15800 returns for the term. wow.
*** I have received "drails" from people that make more sense than some of those morons. I make the assumption that the "drails" were from folks who were literate in the first place.
**** It should be mentioned that there are morons all over the place. It isn't just fundie xtians that are dumb. A large number of the faithful who were sending nasties to Dr. Meyers also showed a stark lack of intelligence. So it's catholics, as well.