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I'm a Troll

Entry 1854, on 2017-05-19 at 21:13:37 (Rating 3, Comments)

In the old Norwegian fairy tale, Three Billy Goats Gruff, the three goats must try to cross a bridge to get to richer meadows, but are challenged by a fearsome and hideous troll. This guy is both territorial and aggressive, and has a habit of trying to eat anything that dares to cross the bridge.

Is this a good metaphor for our friend, the internet troll? Maybe it is. But the word "troll" is another one on my list of words I try to avoid using, and my reader, Derek Ramsey, indicated he would like to see my reasons why, probably because he (along with many others) thinks I might indulge in a certain amount of trolling activity myself!

Here's the definition of an internet troll, from Wikipedia: "...a person who sows discord on the Internet by starting arguments or upsetting people, by posting inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community ... with the intent of provoking readers into an emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal, on-topic discussion often for the troll's amusement."

Having read this I have to admit that I do sometimes stir up trouble just for the fun of it. But even then I do have a higher purpose, and I would like to think that the majority of the time I am accused of "trolling" I am actually trying to make people think in a different way, or trying to make people question their fundamental beliefs, or even offering my opinion with the possibility that it will be proved wrong.

So trolling is more a matter of intent rather than form, and it is just too easy for people with unpopular or alternative views to be dismissed by the majority because they are "just a troll".

The first time I was excluded from an on-line community due to "excess trolling" was many years ago when I used to offer "alternative commentary" on a site called "GodTube" (I know it looks like I made that up, but it is a real site). This site offers "Christian, funny, inspirational, music, ministry, educational, cute and videos" with a religious perspective.

Of course, that is fine and people are welcome to have communities which represent their interests, but I also think that the internet makes it too easy to enter an "echo chamber" of like-minded people who exclusively parrot the standard dogma of the group and prevent a wider perspective from emerging.

And then there are the blatant lies. In particular I found a lot of anti-science and anti-atheism material on GodTube that I felt I should offer an alternative perspective on. I knew this would cause some of the effects described in the definition of a troll. I knew it would sow discord, I knew it would upset people, I knew it was inflammatory, and I knew it would likely evoke an emotional response and disrupt normal, on-topic discussion.

And, to be honest, it was to a certain extent, for my own amusement.

Hey, now that I read all that I realise that I am a troll! But that is the whole point. In that situation I don't think that being a troll was bad, and that's why I don't like the word.

After many instances of challenging videos on GodTube which rejected evolution, tried to show that the Christian god was supported by real evidence, pretended that events like the Flood, Exodus, etc were actually real, and generally denigrated atheism and science, I was kicked off the community. I could have created a new account and carried on but I thought a break would be good and I moved onto other projects. After all, a troll's work is never done!

More recently I have been un-friended on Facebook for daring to challenge left-wing ideology which I believe is not based on reality. Since I clearly identify with the political left myself this might seem strange, but I think it is even more important that the "team" I support is credible than that the "other team" is. After all, I can just laugh at the idiotic ideas held by conservatives or fundamentalist Christians, but when a similar criticism could be applied to those I would normally support it becomes difficult.

So when a whole bunch of "lefties" are talking about how dreadful society is as a result of another post, based on absolutely zero real-world evidence, about misogyny, I naturally like to point out that they are doing exactly what they accuse conservatives of, and exactly what turns moderates away from their perspective: they are unquestioningly accepting ideology as fact.

It could very well be that the phenomenon is real, but simple-minded support for a silly political doctrine in an echo chamber of far-left political correctness is no proof, and is certainly no way to approach a problem in an honest way.

And that's where a bit of what could be uncharitably called trolling or more positively called challenging ideas is called for. And that's what I do. If people don't like it they can point out where I am wrong (and that has happened on rare occasions) or they can just shut me down because I'm a "troll". But how does that second approach achieve anything worthwhile?

It doesn't, and that's why we need people to challenge established beliefs. We don't need this in an extreme or dishonest form such as that practiced by a genuine troll, but it is hard to say which is which - when does a fair challenge to majority beliefs become trolling? It's too hard to say, so the idea of trolling itself is best avoided.

We don't need to ban the troll, we need to ban the excuse of ignoring someone by labelling them a troll. That's my point. Who disagrees with that?

Comment 1 (4733) by Anonymous on 2017-06-12 at 09:52:12:

Well at least you have the honesty to admit what you are, Owen. That's a start!

Comment 2 (4734) by OJB on 2017-06-12 at 10:39:59:

Ah yes, my whole point was that being a troll can be a good thing. Or more accurately, we shouldn't even use the word because it can mean differently things to different people.

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