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Traditional trolling is a response to self-seriousness that tries to undermine and debase it. And it didn’t start online. It’s the fast-talkers way to disarm pe
by swatcoder 4y ago
Traditional trolling is a response to self-seriousness that tries to undermine and debase it. And it didn’t start online. It’s the fast-talkers way to disarm people who are being overtly “smart” or authoritative. It’s a kind of disrespect and rhetoric, and it can be offensive, embarrassing, distracting, etc etc in ways that feel harmful but its not sadistic. It’s a part of a dialog.
This researcher, explicitly, but probably not alone, has expanded that language to also include any kind of harassment and bullying that happens online.
It’s too bad, because having different words for different things is usually handy.
- pjc50 4y agoI feel that people have been trying and failing to make this distinction for decades, and failing. Just like "hacking". Possibly because it depends on motivation which can't be reliably percieved by bystanders. Meanwhile it's expanded into fairly mainstream politics.
- xpe 4y agoI've not thought of trolling in this way, and I've been around since the BBS days. Maybe I missed it, and/or maybe I have a more accurate/common idea. I don't know. All in all, it is fascinating to see all the definitions of trolling. Generally, early on, I thought of trolling as an intentional derailment of an on-topic discussion. I also noticed people doing it ironically, which seemed funny at times, but it became hard to tell the difference around intentions. Over time, I've started to expand the meaning include an intention to cause strife to people. As such, it is not just a waste of time but also an attempt to degrade people. Generally, I tend to think of trolling as one manifestation of some nasty parts of the human condition.