Sab Sab Five
Purging Maelstrom
Sicarius Draconis
52
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Posted - 2013.03.18 20:15:00 -
[1] - Quote
trolling is an interesting art that has a new word association, but has been going on for many years.
One could conceivably argue that Jonathan Swift's A Modest Proposal is a prime example of trolling on a national level. While the anonymity of the internet is a relatively new thing, and we are somewhat getting used to it, that doesnt meant that trolling hasn't been around for some time.
The Jerky Boys used to troll by phone, and sold many albums, because people fundamentally enjoy watching, hearing, or knowing someone is getting duped. Candid Camera did it on television, and one could argue that reality TV has a certain troll appeal in almost everything it does. There seems to always be a witty instigation somewhere in the show that elicits unwarranted emotional responses from people for amusement.
call it a troll, or a trainwreck, the principle is very similar. And while the anonymity of the internet is often blamed, i think that perhaps more at fault is the ease with which a human can leave a trail of witty retort, vulgar slime, or what have you all over the place in 7 or 8 minutes without thinking too much.
Stream of consciousness posting, as it were. A good purposeful troll, as someone has already mentioned, might not every be found out, or might be making a point far from the actual discussion. The moods and attitudes of the poster online are about the same as editorials in newspapers. After all, some of the US Republicans often seem to troll for Democratic responses, and vice versa. Without the opposition, there would be nothing but idiotic arguments, and this kind of trolling has been going on since the friggin printing press.
Actually, taken in its complete history, trolling can be seen as far back as the Canterbury Tales, which were amusing tales of an almost middle class in the medieval period. Certainly one could make an argument that some of the old greek plays were trolling in a way in which they depicted those in power, and elicited emotional responses out of par with the content (Lysistrata a prime example).
Where before the internet, one had to actually do a bit of work to be allowed to troll often, now it is something anyone, literally anyone, can do to pass the time. Who knows if you are dealing with a 12 year old, a computer programmer with bad writing skills, a 50 year old who loves to screw with people, or a 32 year old vespa model who really is naive enough to think that she is right... You never can tell. That is what makes the internet and its creation of long lists of "responses" and comments so much fun...
I love reading the comments, on almost anything, as i work in politics, when i do research the comments are often a way in which i can tell the tenor of how an argument will play out with real people in a conversation, and while the internet might make the good folks at home more free to say naughty things, i have found that we as Americans (can't speak to others) seem to be OK with allowing vitriol into our day to day discourse.
Freedom of speech is taking on a whole new aspect. |