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The Trolls Among Us
The New York Times ^
| Aug. 3, 2008
| MATTATHIAS SCHWARTZ
Posted on 03/09/2010 9:47:48 AM PST by Reaganesque
click here to read article
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To: Spike Knotts
wrong, try 1998. LOL! Another example of how people get it wrong.
41
posted on
03/09/2010 11:32:17 AM PST
by
votemout
To: OriginalChristian
“Target Practice...”
An excellent reason to have net anonymity, eh? That scenario would not be terribly helpful in the long run.
42
posted on
03/09/2010 11:35:14 AM PST
by
DBrow
To: JerseyHighlander
the SwiftVets and Bob Corsi, remember that?Of course I do. Bought and read the book several times. The SwiftBoat Vets ably served their country a second time! God bless the Swifties!
Bob J is Jerome Corsi?
To: NativeSon
The security guard at a store my wife worked at had a heart attack in front of the store. A bunch of low-lifes stood around and laughed at him while he died. They refused to call 911.
44
posted on
03/09/2010 12:01:41 PM PST
by
gitmo
To: Reaganesque
So, the article raises a good point; where do you draw the line between vigorous comment and cyberbullying? Is anonymity a blessing or a curse online? There will always be those who abuse freedom and those who treasure it. How do rational adults draw a balance in this new, online world? Opinions?
It's so frustrating because, as you point out, there are many elements to the issue. On the one hand, you don't want to set a precedent of restricting free speech. On the other hand, these are people who deliberately acted with the intent of causing extreme emotional pain, and it's hard not to have a "punish those jerks" reaction. But as the article mentions, laws addressing this will be largely unenforceable.
The only way to combat it really is to somehow produce people who aren't emotionally unhinged, but how do you do that? You can lay a part of the blame on the anonymity factor of the Internet (that no one would act this way if they had to see their victim), but there have been horrible people since the dawn of time so it's not all about that.
So ... yeah, no ideas here.
To: Servant of the Cross
46
posted on
03/09/2010 12:26:02 PM PST
by
TADSLOS
(Tea Party. We are the party of NO! NO to more government! NO to more spending! NO to more taxation!)
To: gitmo
I don't know what to say to that. Imagine if it was someone you cared about?
There have always been evil men and there always will be but now it seems as though we are breeding generations of them...
To: musicman
48
posted on
03/09/2010 1:39:09 PM PST
by
onyx
(BE A MONTHLY DONOR - I AM)
To: darkangel82
.
Yup. The “me” and “if it feels good do it” generation, and yes, the valueless generation “X” gave us these little monsters.
49
posted on
03/09/2010 2:47:59 PM PST
by
Touch Not the Cat
(You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory; it is better to perish than to live a slave)
To: Reaganesque
I guess Fr has taut many of us to spot trolls and we can agree to disagree.
Parents need to give their children a lesson it the hard realities of the internet.
It can be an ugly place. Especially for the young and inexperienced.
50
posted on
03/09/2010 2:58:50 PM PST
by
Marty62
(former Marty60)
To: Reaganesque
I agree with you and I think yours is the more important reason for the existence of Internet trolls - lack of discipline. I blame it on Dr. Benjamin Spock, who said that parents shouldn’t spank their children. The kids learn that actions don’t really have consequences, and because so much happens online these days, they don’t care that there’s an actual person behind every username they troll.
I spend a lot of time in the virtual world Second Life, and the chan types are part of the landscape there. Their “memes” are everywhere: longcats and mudkips and chocolate rain and goatse man. Generally in online games these folks are known as “griefers,” not as trolls. Their purpose in Second Life and other online games is not to play the game but to harass the other players so they can’t play the game. Here’s an article about Second Life griefers:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg19526196.000-virtual-entrepreneurs-and-griefers-spoil-the-fantasy-of-online-worlds.html
To oppose the virtual bullies, there are virtual Neighborhood Watch groups who volunteer to report them and get them banned. The practice is immensely satisfying, and such a service should be extended to the /b/tards to give them a taste of their own medicine. We could always “do it for the lulz.”
51
posted on
03/09/2010 3:04:28 PM PST
by
Tarantulas
( Illegal immigration - the trojan horse that's treated like a sacred cow)
To: votemout
Really? You should ping Jim Robinson and let him know that the software for the site is messing up. For some reason, your join date is off by 11 years. Guess it must be a software glitch.
lol.
To: Dead Corpse
Bill Maher claims to be a libertarian as well. Doesn't make it fact... Bill Maher is a retarded man-child.
53
posted on
03/09/2010 5:24:01 PM PST
by
ROCKLOBSTER
(Deathcare...a solution desperately looking for a problem.)
To: Spike Knotts
You are stuck one one explanation when there are several.
54
posted on
03/09/2010 5:24:50 PM PST
by
votemout
To: votemout
55
posted on
03/09/2010 5:25:09 PM PST
by
votemout
To: votemout
No, I can think of several explanations. Here’s another.
The anti-votemout forces that ran off the “liberals and libertarians” have somehow fitted me with special glasses which overlay the 1998 in your join date with 2009...in real time.
They’re quite fabulous.
To: WayneS
The Troll (formerly known as Steve-b) was banned in early February. What a great day that was.
57
posted on
03/10/2010 5:31:15 AM PST
by
ohioman
To: ohioman
Thanks.
I was away from computers for most of the first half of February so I guess that’s why I missed it.
Is it a permanent ban?
58
posted on
03/10/2010 12:09:46 PM PST
by
WayneS
(Respect the 2nd Amendment; Repeal the 16th)
To: WayneS
I don’t know. I certainly hope so.
59
posted on
03/12/2010 5:24:30 AM PST
by
ohioman
To: Reaganesque
...for reasons unknown to those who knew him, Mitchell Henderson, a seventh grader from Rochester, Minn., took a .22-caliber rifle down from a shelf in his parents bedroom closet and shot himself in the head... Seems to me that this should be the paramount issue.
60
posted on
03/12/2010 5:32:20 AM PST
by
verity
(Obama Lies)
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