Poll of the Day > The mantra about the best way to respond to online abuse has only made it worse

(+) Yeah! (+)

According to the conventional wisdom of the internet, theres one simple guideline for responding to trolls: dont feed them. Ignore them, dont react to them, dont give them the attention they want. The axiom has become such a reflexive piece of advice and assumed knowledge that it can often be difficult to see the misperceptions and dismissiveness at its heart, the four hideous lies that perpetuate the cycle of misunderstanding, and the grim, cruel reality it has helped to enable in online culture.

The first great lie is about the sanctity of the past.

Recently, I tweeted about the pervasive nature of trolling and how people have always excused online behavior that is largely inexcusable. Almost immediately, a professor in London chastised that idea. He insisted that there was indeed a golden age for trolling, especially for those of us who can actually remember the eternal September, the month in 1993 when a huge influx of America Online users began to overwhelm the online culture and norms of Usenet.

Reader, I laughed. It is unsurprising for a distinguished professor to engage in this kind of gatekeeper behavior. After all, his esteem rests on the fact that he knows certain things that others do not. Like all gatekeeper behavior, it was ostensibly a check on the credibility of the target. Also like all gatekeeper behavior, it wasnt really about whether or not someone passes the test, but rather the gatekeeper feeling like they can control what is true and not true about the subject. Alas for him, I was there in 1993, too, equal parts young, nave, and shy, but so damn excited about the idea of suddenly communicating with people around the world. This was a new thing, after all. And I will never, ever forget my first reaction to dealing with strangers on the internet: Why is everyone so mean?

From Usenet to early online forums, it was all the same: insults, flame wars, secret languages and inside jokes, and the glad-handing justification that always accompanied it: they were simply trolling. It was all just a joke. When my confused little brain bumped up against this notion, there was an immediate pushback with the general sentiment of forget it, kid. Its internet town.

Some other gatekeeper might come along and say, Well, you just had to be there for Arpanet or [insert whatever period comes just before your own]. But it doesnt matter. Whether were talking about AOL, AIM, early 4chan, or the early days of Twitter, there has always been a myth about the time and place where things were more innocent, when trolling was all in good fun. But what everyone really remembers about these proverbial times isnt their purity. Its how they didnt see the big deal back then. They remember how they felt a sense of permission, a belief that it was all okay. But that was only true for those who were like them, who thought exactly like they did. All the while, someone else was getting stepped on and bullied while others laughed. The story of the internet has always been the same story: disaffected young men thinking their boorish and cruel behavior was justified or permissible.

And it was always wrong.

https://www.theverge.com/2018/7/12/17561768/dont-feed-the-trolls-online-harassment-abuse
---

these people who write these types of things need to get a thicker skin

If you starve something enough it eventually dies.
---

wwinterj25 posted...

If you starve something enough it eventually dies.

So that's why Zeus left.
---

I've always been a firm believer than saying nothing just enables the trolls. Not being rebuked for what they say by others creates the illusion that what they say is fine, and accepted.
They need to be confronted by as many people as possible, called out as the horrible people they are, and subjected to wide scale ridicule.
That's the only thing that gets them to scurry back under their rocks. The trolls will still exist, but there will be less of them and they'll periodically go quiet under the barrage of contempt, which offers some moments of reprieve.

except the issue is that no one ever actually ignores the "trolls" which is why things always escalate

miki_sauvester posted...

these people who write these types of things need to get a thicker skin

Or other people can stop being assholes
---

How do you define a troll without being one yourself? My view is it's not trolling if I'm never wrong. Sharing an opinion or fact, especially an unpopular one, isn't trolling. I mean look at it this way - if you go into say, a flat earther forum and explain why everything is round, then an argument will ensue. Which side is trolling?

And yes of course people need a thicker skin. Look at what 4chan does to idiots on YT. That's funny.

Johnny Eagle posted...

Or other people can stop being assholes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOdjCb4LwQY" data-time="
---

Johnny Eagle posted...

miki_sauvester posted...

these people who write these types of things need to get a thicker skin

Or other people can stop being assholes

Trolls live in an echo chamber, they've become their own friends, ok?
---

#1 people never ignored trolls.
#2 the reason people said to ignore trolls was typically because they weren't breaking any rules on the particular place they were active
#3 If ignoring trolls is wrong, what are you supposed to do?

If you don't like the rules where you're posting, then find a board where trolls aren't allowed. But I don't think this is what the article is about. The rise in "anti-trolling" lately has come from the downright criminal harassment some people have found themselves victims from, in some cases ignoring them could have worked. But in others it's just criminal harassment, not trolling. To me trolling is some ass hole doing false ignorance on a forum, not someone doxxing a person and getting them thousands of phone calls a day or swatting or other criminal activities.

streamofthesky posted...

I've always been a firm believer than saying nothing just enables the trolls. Not being rebuked for what they say by others creates the illusion that what they say is fine, and accepted.
They need to be confronted by as many people as possible, called out as the horrible people they are, and subjected to wide scale ridicule.
That's the only thing that gets them to scurry back under their rocks. The trolls will still exist, but there will be less of them and they'll periodically go quiet under the barrage of contempt, which offers some moments of reprieve.

I don't think what you're describing is trolls.
---

Smarkil posted...

streamofthesky posted...

I've always been a firm believer than saying nothing just enables the trolls. Not being rebuked for what they say by others creates the illusion that what they say is fine, and accepted.
They need to be confronted by as many people as possible, called out as the horrible people they are, and subjected to wide scale ridicule.
That's the only thing that gets them to scurry back under their rocks. The trolls will still exist, but there will be less of them and they'll periodically go quiet under the barrage of contempt, which offers some moments of reprieve.

I don't think what you're describing is trolls.

People are describing every negative action on the internet as trolling.

I had this problem at work a while back. They were complaining about someone trolling, and I said "how is that trolling? That is just some ass hole flaming people." And they went off the deep end laughing about the phrase "flaming". Apparently to them it just mean gay, because they have limited knowledge of internet lingo.

I do believe in ignoring trolls, primarily because there's really not much else you can do, other than reporting any posts that are against the rules. Regardless of the number of people you get to fight with you, or even because of it, trolls don't walk away. Because they just want attention and to ruffle feathers, which they're clearly succeeding at if someone is arguing with them.

You can't make them stop posting, you can't ban them unless you're in charge of the forum, and you can't force them to play nice. The only real option is to show them that their efforts will not be given the attention they seek, by ignoring it entirely.
---

wwinterj25 posted...

Johnny Eagle posted...

Or other people can stop being assholes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOdjCb4LwQY" data-time="

I agree it's not likely to happen. I still think it's the better option, though
---

Johnny Eagle posted...

miki_sauvester posted...

these people who write these types of things need to get a thicker skin

Or other people can stop being assholes

Yup. Peeps won't stop bein faceless assholes until put into their place. Rather waste time speakin up than acting like it's fixin itself.
---

PyroBlade1985 posted...

streamofthesky posted...

They need to be confronted by as many people as possible, called out as the horrible people they are, and subjected to wide scale ridicule

Shame culture only makes things worse.

Be ashamed of yourself.
---

Sure, I've murdered a few people. But it was just trolling.
---

GanonsSpirit posted...

Sure, I've murdered a few people. But it was just trolling.

Lol.
---