Trolling the Trolls: Troll me once, shame on you. Troll me twice, shame on me
- Nov 14, 2016
- 4 min read
While doing anything online, one has to be “troll” literate. This especially true when one is dealing with the emotions of a certain illness and joins online support groups.
According to Anti-Troll.org, a troll is someone who “posts a deliberately provocative or abusive messages to a newsgroup or message board, with the intention of causing maximum disruption and argument.” This is a disgusting but all too common occurrence on the internet. Trolling is related to “cyber stalking” which is best described my Anti-Troll.org as below;
"Cyber-stalkers meet or target their victims by using search engines, online forums, bulletin and discussion boards, chat rooms, and more recently, through online communities such as MySpace, Facebook, Bebo, Friendster, and Indymedia, a media outlet known for self-publishing, in exacty the same way as Trolls. They may engage in live chat harassment or flaming or they may send electronic viruses and unsolicited e-mails, in the exact same way as Trolls do. Victims of cyber-stalking may not even know that they are being stalked. Cyber-stalkers / Trolls may research individuals to feed their obsessions and curiosity. Conversely, the acts of cyber-stalkers / Trolls may become more intense, such as repeatedly instant messaging their targets."
(Anti-Troll.org, 2016)
If a friend of mine was suffering from a health condition and was considering joining an online support group, the first warning I woulw give them is information about trolling. Anti-Troll.org appears to go a bit far by demanding that trolling become a federal crime. There is the issue of freedom of speech here, and I know that the freedom of speech probably doesn’t include the abusive nature of trolling, however, I don’t believe that creating a law against the action is necessary. One visitor to Anti-Troll.org pointed out in the comments that ;
"Comments: This is ridiculous, if you see something mean on the internet just ignore it for the love of god. This is just overboard, and in my opinion the results of a very successful trolling. Seriously, this is the most laughable cause. Next you'll want pranks made illegal because it's having a laugh at the expense of someone else being minority inconvenienced for a little bit. Or you'll want to stifle folks irl for saying something that hurts your feelings. Grow a backbone and deal with it, it's how the world works."
(Why, 2016)
While this comment makes a good point and presenting something similar to my opinion for dealing with trolling in the beginning, then the comment suddenly turns rude, arrogant, and egotistical and begins to get troll-like. I am sure that this person would not talk to a complete stranger in this manner in person, because they would risk getting a punch in the mouth. But the internet’s provision of anonymity allow for this kind of behavior. And in a support group where people go to find some sort of emotional treatment and support, one can see how such discourteous comments could cause harm.
In the "Talk" section on mumsnet.com, a discussion exist that points out another issue with online support groups, where some individuals in the group may be fake, may be exaggerating their personal issues for attention, and therefore drain the group of support creating an environment “where other people give so much time and emotional energy to [a particular person] while dealing with immense problems of their own, that I just can't help but worry [a particular person] might be a fake” (OnThePrittStick, 2015).
Again, we have the problem of the internet offering an extreme sense of anonymity. Many individuals have a huge contrast between their online identity and the in-person identity. Some individuals have several online identities, and the existence of these abusive, unempathetic online behaviors offer problems for those who need help dealing with the emotions surrounding an illness.
I choose to end this discussion with the comedy of Trevor Moore and his “The Ballad of Billy John.” Moore’s comedy comes in the form of satirical songs, and the content of the “The Ballad of Billy John” addresses the issues of trolls.
Billy John was a simple man, worked in the fields most his life
He provided for his wife and kids and left his dreams on the side
One day when the kids left home billy picked up his guitar
It had been awhile but his fingers still knew how to reach the heart
Played a song about life and love, his hopes and regrets
Then with a little problem from the Mrs. he put it on the internet (Moore, 2015)
Then the trolling begins.
Then they scrolled to the comment section and this is what they saw
Eat a bag of s[***] c[***]face
Go blow your f[****]ing dad
This s[***] just raped my ears never heard nothin so bad
I hope you f[***]ing die
And I hope you get aids
You should just kill yourself
You're a fag
Lol gay
(Moore, 2015)
This is the horrible reality of the internet, and it is best to see it from obviously distorted and deprived view of the pitiful troll, and do not give them the satisfaction of letting them troll you by engaging in their senseless banter of online hate speak.
Billy John and his wife did nothing wrong, and they weren't dumb
They just hadnt paid attention to what we'd all become
(Moore, 2015)
References
Anti-Troll.org (2016) . ANTI-TROLL.ORG IS THE OFFICIAL WEBSITE OF THE ANTI-TROLL ALLIANCE
WE ARE A COLLECTIVE ORGANISATION ACTIVELY CAMPAIGNING TO MAKE 'TROLLING' A RECOGNISED CRIMINAL OFFENCE . retrieved November 13, 2016 from http://www.anti-troll.org/index.html
Moore, Trevor (2015) . The Ballad of Billy John. www.musixmatch.com March 15, 2015 . retrieved from https://www.musixmatch.com/lyrics/Trevor-Moore/The-Ballad-of-Billy-John
OnThePrittStick (2015) . To be worried my support group has a troll . Talk . mums.net . 28-Sep-15 . Retrieved November 14, 2016 from http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/2476373-To-be-worried-my-support-group-has-a-troll
Why (2016) . Anti-Troll Guestbook . Anti-Troll.org . retrieved November 13, 2016 from http://svcs.myregisteredsite.com/svcs/dcc.jsp?tpage=http://www.anti-troll.org/index.html&dsrc=gb:4090130721795950280/DS_TLXGuestbook_1303326169604.xml&partner=inldspear&pcon=yes&xsl=dccfile:gb.xsl&obpp=blDe2trOXurEzlraytTKxObuWO5azlrm6sTkYGBsYGJ2&ret_url=http://www.anti-troll.org/index.html&page=1
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