(no subject)

[lliira]

Why do people in this year of 2018 still persist in thinking that trolls wouldn't do something that takes a lot of time? Whyyyyy it's like thinking the earth is flat at this point.

Comments

[iosonochesono]

What did the trolls do this time?

[lliira]

I don't know for sure if the person I think is a troll is, but the only argument against it I've gotten is that a troll wouldn't spend so much time on something. Actually people have been saying that for years and they've always been provably wrong, so I've reached utter exasperation with that particular line. Especially since not realizing people can be trolling has, at this point, changed our political landscape beyond recognition and recently got someone killed.

[iosonochesono]

But... What are we talking about?

[lliira]

Okay so someone on Tumblr made an "aphobe block list" that consists solely of names and takes up an entire flash drive (which I don't know if that could even happen) and has nothing to do with aphobes and just so happens to align to people's particular prejudices about Tumblr. It got her a ton of attention, and people started to ask to be added to it. I told one of the principles I thought she was being trolled (it feels exactly like something Ms. Scribe did), and she said she didn't think a troll would spend that much time on something. Which is when I reached my limit for that particular misconception, having heard it over and over and over for years.

This particular thing is a big fat nothing. But I've seen so many people hurt by thinking that trolling takes more time than it does, and that no one would do X horrible troll thing.

[iosonochesono]

Oh. That's... Bizarre. From start to finish.

[silveradept]

I can't quite understand how such a person hasn't been exposed to Goons, Anonymous, and the like.

[lliira]

Or Ms. Scribe, Winterfox/RequiresHate, etc. This particular person really should know about them, too, even more than most people who spend a lot of time on the internet. But so many people are incredibly naive about this. That there are bad people in the world who will spend their lives making the lives of others worse is something everyone should know by the time they're an adult. They are a very small percentage of humanity, but look at how much time most of us spend on our hobbies. When someone's hobby is hurting others, the damage they can do is immense.

[silveradept]

I think people are starting to stall out at the idea that now you don't have to spend a whole lot of time trolling someone and the effect can be immense -- because computers and networks of computers and networks of trolls with computers can very easily create all sorts of hell with only a little effort. We're not quite as good as we could be about understanding the scale.

[lliira]

Even back when I was first on the internet in the mid-90s, one terrible troll could wreak havoc. (And I saw one terrible troll do it for years -- I'm sure she's still at it.) That was with moderated forums and an insistence on usernames and all that. Now, with Tumblr and Twitter and Facebook, the internet must seem an endless feast to that kind of person.