Few see himself or herself as the bad person when they are in the moment. But the trolls i have seen, especially the ones that return and return, stacking up their sockpuppets with posting numbers and detailed fictitious histories, I have always felt the most profound sadness at the structure of their world.

Sure, they are annoying, but underneath it all is the cry for attention, even negative attention.

We have a concept in Buddhism called "right speech." The concept is not unique to Buddhism, and we all know what it is. It's to not lie, to not say hurtful things, to use words to reconcile people, to calm afflictive emotions, to inspire to better and more beneficial behaviors. The people that purposely troll to be hurtful are deeply disturbed mentally. I don't get deluged by these folks because I don't engage in tit-for-tat insults. But I do ask them why they delight in being hurtful. Or I might ask if they remember the first time they felt hurt by mean-spirited words. Or I might tell them that their words don't make me angry because words are not that powerful. Words are just sound moving thru the air, or electrical impulses received by my computer. Or I might ask them what it feels like to walk around with so much hatred inside their heart. Would they like to trade in that anger and hatred for happiness? I don't know what effect my responses have, but I'd like to think that at lease a few of them pause for a moment to think about it.

one of those weekend shows that the local affiliate just started carrying...

It was really compelling. While I guess we all have to credit the guy for fessing up and apologizing (finally), it still was so beneath humanity to do what he did. Beyond vile.

While perhaps the larger number of trolls are pathetic, sad little people, it doesn't negate their responsibility for the culture they are fostering. It's not just about individuals, it's about a acceptance of sorts, of really vile behavior, especially toward women and feminists

This is the point that so many miss. We let the lowest common denominator define our culture & then we're surprised that we live in a cesspool.

will disagree with parts of this, but one thing is for certain. There is a mentality that some feel entitles them to be an asshole, plain and simple, as though the perp has perfected what it is to be "human" and if you are the scapegoat, sucks to be you. I've seen this in the workplace plenty enough. One doesn't have to be fat, skinny or anything really, it's not about the victim, it's the perp's mentality & what they perceive they are getting from their actions.

The big piece missing is that it speaks volumes about the perp, no matter what they think they are gaining by this sociopathic behavior, or if they even feel they are gaining anything. I think it's done for sport more often than not.

Fascinating.

It sounds very fascinating

and their website is wonderful, you can listen to every single show they ever did.

It sounds wonderful

their free streaming helps me get through washing dishes and cleaning the kitchen. it is a painful ordeal for me and hearing others' stories helps me get them done.

perhaps even impossible, to forgive someone who used my dead father's name and image to harass me. Fortunately, my father is still alive, but, as someone who aspires to one day perhaps write professionally... and given my political leanings, I can imagine something like this happening. Especially on the internet.

There is a certain level of anonymous protection on the internet - and a greater level for those who know how to hide their identity. So, generally, it's not as if you have the opportunity to confront a person like that, either personally or legally. I can imagine that, as a feminist, this lady gets a lot more insults and threats that she didn't mention in the article.

It takes a lot of fortitude - and courage, to keep going in the face of the kind of adversity that she most certainly faces every day. I applaud her courage and her compassion.

Who is being viciously trolled (by another woman) this person used her dead son to cause an unimaginable level of pain. My friend, who is a very good person, is stopping participation in all social all media-- she's done.

in caricatures of my photos. it was really disturbing, and unless online trolling happens to you at that personal level, its sometimes hard for people to understand why its so disturbing. i think most people wondered why these trolls were so disturbing for me, after all they were only on the internet etc.

i have a lot of sympathy for women who get trolled online, because it seems like men dont get trolled as much in this manner. men get a lot of mean comments, but people dont seem to get as obsessed with them on the deeply personal level, like they do with women.

and i think trolls especially get obsessed with women who are not ashamed of themselves. i think we as a society tend to want women to be ashamed of their bodies.

I think they do it because they are inhibited in real life from being who they are....of course all self-imposed. As the author shows, that inability to love themselves and be who they are manifests in extremely negative online behavior. It is a form of self hatred; I think more about themselves than their targets.

Thanks ismnotwasm. It's a real thing that can cause real pain.

Also sharing it. Several points hit me right off. IMO using "troll" in this situation is wrong and mendacious: to me a troll is simply someone who gets his jollies disrupting online discussions by posting provocative messages, and such persons are easily ignored and dismissed. We even enjoy playing with them on DU. What Lindy describes is stalking and harassment, and it should be called such.

We have discussed the "free speech" issue many times here, and I liked the way Lindy framed it: "When you talk about rape, I said, you get to decide where you aim: are you making fun of rapists? Or their victims? Are you making the world better? Or worse? It’s not about censorship, it’s not about obligation, it’s not about forcibly limiting anyone’s speech – it’s about choice. Who are you? Choose." That opens the subject to a more thoughtful conversation.

Last, I was hit very hard when she described the "message" from her deceased father. Pure slime. I don't believe I could have forgiven him. She is a very strong person to reach out in order to learn from him.

Great thread, ism.

I could forgive, possibly reach out, if I could get to that point. It would take a LOT to get me there

Yet, ironically, mysogynists try and often succeed in suppressing feminist speech by accusing feminists of calling for censorship.

I'll never forget the onslaught of taunting, ridicule and charges of censorship I got hit with in a thread here on DU for simply pointing out that the way Spiderwoman was drawn on the cover of a comic was sexist. You'd think I had attacked the Constition instead of a comic book peddled to 13 year olds (and those who think like them).

This TED talk is about dealing mostly with institutionalized bullying, something that internet trolling like gamergate is a symptom of. It seems West has adopted the tactics, which do work well for adults. I've used them.

What can I say? Wow.

I cannot imagine what it would feel like to be in her situation. Strong or not, this has to be difficult.

I usually stay out of the fray when things get nasty in a post, but this article has changed my attitude on that. From this day forward, whenever I see hatred posted in any comments on any article, I am going to call the hater on it, and I am going to post support for the writer. These writers need to have the support of others....to keep them from feeling defeated. We can all do that.

This line in particular hit me:

Why should I have to rearrange my life – and change careers, essentially – because you wet your pants every time a woman talks?

during the Peace Marches of the late 60's and early 70's. There were these 3 brothers and their mother who would follow my Dad and his activists buddies around when they organised a peace march or were doing their lettuce boycotts. They would hurl stuff as they drove by. They would sometimes jump some of the teenagers marching. They were madass crazy. But the po po didn't do much about it. It took years of these guys doing all kinds of mean violent stuff before they were finally put in prison and their mother was left all alone to cry in her beer. (They even beat my science teacher up once for asking them to not spend all Sunday day revving their motorcycles - he lived down the street.)

Cyber trolls are just insecure people with keyboard courage. Some of them take it to real life though.

On the Internets I use Troll*B*Gone. IRL I tell the motherphucurs to go fuck themselves.

- Just like I do here, but only nicer.

Last edited Thu Feb 5, 2015, 02:14 AM - Edit history (1)

really interesting.

Its one that I might even watch...

Swedish reality TV show will hunt online trolls

CBC interviews Robert Aschberg, who is hosting a new reality TV show in Sweden about exposing online bullies.

The Swedish reality TV show Trolljägarna (Troll Hunter) sets out to expose the anonymous users and shady characters fuelling online hatred and harassment. Show host Robert Aschberg interviews their victims, then tracks down the so-called trolls to confront them in person.

Guest host Candy Palmater speaks to Aschberg about his ethics, techniques and motivation. She also checks in with technology journalist Adrian Chen to ask whether Troll Hunter's approach to fighting trolls is inadvertently feeding them.

Listen to the interview here
http://www.cbc.ca/player/Radio/Q/ID/2649357662/

http://boingboing.net/2015/01/23/swedish-reality-tv-show-will-h.html

Sounds interesting

complete and utter shit. But it does seem like this story, at least, had a happy ending:

But he did explain how he changed. He started taking care of his health, he found a new girlfriend and, most importantly, he went back to school to become a teacher. He told me – in all seriousness – that, as a volunteer at a school, he just gets so many hugs now. “Seeing how their feelings get hurt by their peers,” he said, “on purpose or not, it derails them for the rest of the day. They’ll have their head on their desk and refuse to talk. As I’m watching this happen, I can’t help but think about the feelings that I hurt.” He was so sorry, he said.

The worst ones seem to be unaware of how blatant and obvious they are. Even after being confronted and exposed, they will walk right into your online community and feign ignorance. After an onslaught of offensive posts, they'll make a few posts pretending to be on your side, all the while complaining about "radfems" and "social justice warriors".

Some real characters out there.

Twitter's had a problem with a lack of action against harassment in general; honestly, it's about time they did a 180 on this. Enough's enough.

customers/members. I have been so disappointed with the way some just make it worse with the ridiculous mindset of "Well you asked for it". Especially when they go out of their way to shame a woman for bringing her harassment to other customer's/member's attention. A couple of times I have even been tempted to contact jezebel myself about some of the more outlandish responses I've seen from "CEO's" regarding online harassment.

really interesting story.