|
My Links Pages |
|
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). At the moment, the relative anonymity of the net allows
trolls to flourish. 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. Perhaps this sounds inconceivable. You
may think, "Surely there is something I can write that will change them."
But a true troll can not be changed by mere words.
Why Does it Matter?
Some people — particularly those who have been online for years — are not
upset by trolls and consider them an inevitable hazard of using the net.
As the saying goes, "You can't have a picnic without ants." It would
be nice if everybody was so easy-going, but the sad fact is that trolls do
discourage people. Established posters may leave a message board because
of the arguments that trolls ignite, and lurkers (people who read but do not
post) 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.
The Internet is a wonderful resource which is breaking down barriers and stripping
away prejudice. Trolls threaten our continued enjoyment of this beautiful
forum for ideas.
What Can be Done about Trolls?
When you suspect that somebody is a troll, you might try responding with a
polite, mild message to see if it's just somebody in a bad mood. Internet
users sometimes let their passions get away from them when seated safely behind
their keyboard. If you ignore their bluster and respond in a pleasant
manner, they usually calm down. However, if the person persists in
being beastly, and seems to enjoy being unpleasant, the only effective position
is summed up as follows: 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 As already stated, 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, please 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 on a message system 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. Incidentally, 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
When trolls are ignored they step up their attacks, desperately seeking the
attention they crave. Their messages become more and more foul, and
they post ever more of them. Alternatively, they may protest that their
right to free speech is being curtailed — more on this later. 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. Some webmasters have to endure conscientious users telling them
that they are "acting like dictators" and should never delete a single message.
These people may be misinformed: they may have arrived at their opinion about
a troll based on the messages they see, never realizing that the webmaster
has already deleted his most horrific material. Please remember that
a troll does have an alternative if he has something of value to say: there
are services on the net that provide messaging systems free of charge.
So the troll can set up his own message board, where he can make his own decisions
about the kind of content he will tolerate. Just how much can we expect
of a webmaster when it comes to preserving the principles of free speech?
Some trolls find sport in determining what the breaking point is for a particular
message board operator. They might post a dozen messages, each of which
contains 400 lines of the letter "J". That is a form of expression,
to be sure, but would you consider it your duty to play host to such a person?
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.
Let us examine that claim. 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. Another useful example is the control of the radio frequency
spectrum. You might wish to set up a powerful radio station to broadcast
your ideas, but you cannot do so without applying for a license. Again,
this is a practical limitation: if everybody broadcasted without restriction,
the repercussions would be annoying at best and life-threatening at worst.
The radio example is helpful for another reason: with countless people having
a legitimate need to use radio communications, it is important to ensure that
nobody is 'monopolizing the channel'. There are only so many clear channels
available in each frequency band and these must be shared. When a troll
attacks a message board, he generally posts a lot of messages. Even
if his messages are not particularly inflammatory, they can be so numerous
that they drown out the regular conversations (this is known as 'flooding').
Needless to say, no one person's opinions can be allowed to monopolize a channel.
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.)
Why Do They Do It?
Affirmation. Regular net users know how delightful it is when somebody
responds to something they have written. It is a meeting of the minds,
which is an intellectual thrill, but it is also an acknowledgement of one's
value — and that can be a very satisfying emotional reward. 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.
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. The Internet is a splendidly haphazard collection of both serious and silly material. Because it is so free, there are bound to be problems. I think that we can best enjoy it if we deal with everything that happens online with a wry grin and a ready shrug.