Don't feed the trolls, and other hideous lies

[Blue_Adept]

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

According to the conventional wisdom of the internet, there’s one simple guideline for responding to trolls: don’t feed them. Ignore them, don’t react to them, don’t 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 wasn’t 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, naïve, 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?”

[H2O Man]

1. Recommended

[Blue_Adept]

2. Film Crit Hulk is in general a fantastic read

[Yonnie3]

3. I too still think about Eternal September nt

[forgotmylogin]

4. Ignoring trolls only works

if everyone commits to ignoring the trolls.

[ismnotwasm]

5. This is a good read

Feminists have always been a target of trolling, and it’s certainly not harmless. We certainly didn’t ignore it, although individuals did. It always seemed more of a reflection of society. It’s can be some scary shit.

I remember some early political forum, where there was this guy who HATED Bob Dylan. I can’t remember all the conspiracy nonsense, but the dude was obsessed and ended up with some story of going through Dylan’s trash. Also obsessively scary.

[Blue_Adept]

6. Yep

I've run forums since the BBS days back in the mid 1980's on FIDO and so forth and ran a fair popular niche genre entertainment site for about ten years as well. Most of the membership is good but we had a pretty strict policy in dealing with trolls because our readership trended about 40% female, which was pretty high for that genre. Which is why I had a lot of female writers (and still do) on staff. Stuff always slips through but you have to attack the trolling hard and firm with a no-nonsense approach.

[zipplewrath]

7. Bit of an odd piece

It speaks of the internet as if it is one big monolithic place. It is not. Far from it, the reality is that it is a large collection of "places" or communities and in a tremendous number of them, their very existence is in an effort to avoid or "ignore" the "trolls". Usenet died for alot of unrelated reasons. But one of them was the desire of many people to avoid "trolls" or aggressive disagreement. DU is one such place. Even within DU we have "protected" forums or "safe spaces". "Ignore the trolls" isn't just a piece of advice, it is a business model.

The advice is basically a suggestion to stay out of "unprotected" spaces (roughly speaking, unmoderated or unfiltered). This is akin to the advice that many parents give children who are victims of teasing or bullying. If it is in a situation in which the child doesn't have to participate, walk away. There are bars I do not frequent because hostility is tolerated. Conflict is virtually the cover charge for entering. So I don't go in.

The place the advice DOESN'T make sense is within internet sites in which one cannot reasonably avoid. Business owners with websites or getting reviews on a Yelp or other type of site. Social media platforms in which professionals may be "required" to participate to some extent. And any place in which one may need to use for information or advice (shopping, travel, or repair kinds of sites). One can TRY to avoid the trolls there, but it can often be difficult. And, as the article insiuates, one may not necessarily have to respond or "feed" the trolls. The mere reading of them can cause the pain the author alludes. THAT is where I think the advice tends to break down and where the community has to do more than just "ignore" it.

[Mosby]

8. bookmarking for later.