“Internet Trolls” by Lisa Selin Davis explains that Internet Trolls are online commentators who write inflammatory or derisive things in public forums, hoping to provoke emotional responses from others. These people spend time and energy engaging in virtual hate. Even outside of internet trolling, discussions sometimes turn into arguments, that often turn personal. A troll can disrupt discussions on social media by broadcasting bad advice, and damaging the feeling of trust within the community. Trolls feed off the reactions of their victims because their agenda is to take pleasure in causing trouble. Three different types of troll causes are “the moral crusader”, “the disinhibition effect” and “emotional dislocation.”
First, we have the moral crusader, this is a person who always tries to "right" a situation. In the end these moral crusaders just end up being worse than the troll because they are trying to prove everyone else wrong in order to uphold their skewed view points. Unfortunately, an acquaintance of mine, Monica, often falls into this category. One day, a few years ago, she was particularly expressive when a few people were having a discussion about abortion on Facebook. Monica thought she was defending my
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Online anonymity sometimes creates a sense of a community without the consequences. “People feel alone when they’re typing on a computer, even if they’re in a public “place” like a chat room on Facebook or the comments section of an article.” MIT professor Sherry Turkle calls this “being alone together” (159). I had a high school friend named Steve, he would spew rude comments just for fun at everyone else's expense. He made derogatory comments towards a close friend of mine for being homosexual. Most of Steve’s comments rolled off my back and I took them as jokes, but this was far worse than anything he ever said to me. As a result of this, I haven't spoke to Steve in over three
...ses a threat of humiliation and maltreating from other individuals that can have a detrimental effect on their lives. A person can go from being a normal school student to a laughing stock on a popular social network or even trend from a emotionally stable individual to a deranged, depressed critter who now hides in the shadows of society hoping never to be revealed. The informative thought of the re-occurrence of public shaming throughout history from Bennett allows the reader to question if this is an issue that is perpetual and something that will never go away. Furthermore, the author conveys the idea that publicizing oneself can be a burden; the darkside of Internet fame. Wrapping up her article, Bennett portrays a warning to the reader stating, “Shame...will always be with you”(115). Harassment from Internet fame can alter a person's life-forever.
In the essay “Where Anonymity Breeds Contempt” the author Julie Zhou demonstrates the negative impact Anonymity in the internet has had on human beings. Following with a convincing argument for unmasking these “trolls” of the internet.
Yet, with all the activity and chatter a message board supplies, there are nuisances as well. Adolescents who go on the computer usually want to start trouble or irritate others. These people are called trolls. Trolls are a very troublesome problem in the message board community. Trolls usually post beliefs that are not well respected within the message board community. Take a sports message board for example. A troll on a sports message board would usually say that the team that specific board supports “sucks” and the troll would go on to brag how his or her team is superior. Trolls usually do this on consistent bases to annoy the other members on the board.
Modern scholars have in the recent decades engaged in the controversial debate on the actual classification of the group Anonymous. Some scholars classify the group as trolls while other associates it with hackers groups. As defined, hackers are individuals or groups that search and exploit the computer system weakness (Messmer 65). In most instances, hackers engage in discouraging and unappealing activities for multiple reasons including challenging the existing systems, protesting against the prevailing rules and regulations, and for profit making. On the other hand, trolls are groups of individuals who engage in the process of sowing discord on the internet through instigating arguments that aim at upsetting community members and leaders (Keith 11). Trolls are also popular for posting off-topic, extraneous, and inflammatory information on the internet. Although hackers and trolls are the main actors in the current threatening cyber crimes, the two groups have varying reasons for abusing the existing technology. Moreover, despite the existence of detailed and intensive strategies to address the two groups of crime, the actors have been outshining the global policy implementers and formulators in numerous occasions (Messmer 65). However, based on the available evidence, the Anonymous group is more of a hacker group than a troll group.
Sadly, ”One of the problems of being a human is that it is rather hard to look at humans with an unprejudiced eye”(Blackmore). From the moment a person is born, they are judged and expected to fulfill the standards set upon them by their community. The stress created by these standards cause people to develop human vulnerabilities, which results in people having insecurities about themselves. Until the creation of social networks, people had no choice but to fix their imperfections or simply learn to live with them. With the help of the technology, people can hide from their imperfections through the methods of avatars, filters, and false identities. Turkle discusses how social networks create the opportunity where,”better than nothing can become better than something-or better than anything”(Turkle). This new method of personal reconstruction has become so popular because it allows people to represent themselves through a morphed identity, socially accepted by a community of online strangers . The fact that, “the internet lets us exploit the powers of these kind of distant connections”(Gladwell), causes a dilemma in which people abandon their true identity accepting their false identities as their own. In attempt of achieving social acceptance, these people enter into a virtual world subliminally losing sense of reality thus, further isolating themselves from real society.
The prominence of social media and computer mediated interaction has lead to a rise in anonymous communications between individuals. Anonymity, in many online contexts, is seen as a negative attribute of the internet; where people are given the option to be awful and toxic to one another through comment threads or community forums. However, anonymity online offers the possibility for personal exploration and experimentation that is often unavailable in real life. Identity development, considered an essential part of adolescence, is made accessible to many through online spaces where individuals can take risks with reduced chance of physical harm. Similarly, the absence of identity that anonymity affords allows individuals the opportunity
Simmons, Rachel. "Cyberbullying Is a Growing Problem." Policing the Internet. Ed. Peggy Daniels. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2007. At Issue. Rpt. from "Cliques, Clicks, Bullies and Blogs." Washington Post 28 Sept. 2003: B01. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 4 Apr. 2014.
In conclusion, bullying has been a part of the American society since the country was first founded. Bullying has remained a relevant issue through the years and cyberbullying, has allowed the problem to expand, become more elusive, and even harder to define. It is very common amongst youth and adolescents to seek the support and acceptance of their peers. However, cyber-bullying can often hinder that goal through rejection and exclusion. Cyber-bullying may seem like nothing since there's no physical contact, but in reality it can hurt even more than the actual thing. The victims of cyber-bullying are real people with real feelings; and the bullying has led some to depression, and further more driven them to suicide. Cyber-bullying is a serious issue that negatively affects the youth today.
Due to the advancements of technology, social media is becoming a routine part of our daily lives. It comes as no surprise that Becky calling you an expletive online hurts your feelings in the real word. The rate of cyberbullying grew proportionately in regards to electronic communication’s advancement. It is due to this, that multiple people began questioning whether social media is to blame for the notable increased occurrence of cyberbullying, sparking fierce debates. Cyberbullying is a social phenomenon that appears to have no clear instigator, but according to directors of the Anti-Defamation League, Abraham Foxman and Cyndi Silverman, the blame falls toward social media sites and its “dark underbelly”.
As social media has become more relevant in my generation, I have begun to see just how hate speech has evolved over time. Recently, a video from a campaign movement was posted on our class canvas page that expressed different stand points on why hate speech should be stopped. I gained a stronger opinion on banning hate speech, especially now that people are finding ways to use fighting words anonymously and not within a political view. In this video one of the interviewee’s mentioned how people online have the mindset that they do not have to take responsibility for the crud words they say over the internet because it is anonymous and they are not saying it directly to someone’s face they cannot be punished. Things that are viewed and said over social media can come off as very offensive. I think a common thing that is misunderstood by many is that there are different forms of hate speech and using social media to hide your identity is just one of them. We need to address all forms of hate speech and not just the cases seen in public
In the real world, most encounters in everyone's daily lives are anonymous ones. Chatting with a person beside you in a café or talking to an assistant while shopping for a pair of pants- these are interactions between two unknown persons; however, these contacts do not affect our lives the way some of the anonymous interactions in the cyberspace does so. Chat rooms, net forums, and even the spam mails most people get u...
An online community means different things to different people. For some, it conjures fuzzy, warm images of people chatting and helping each other. For others, it produces dark images of conspiracy, dissident and criminal behavior, sick perverts and invasion of privacy. At first, I was a little sketchy about joining a community. I wasn’t too fond of talking to strangers and posting my thoughts on certain subjects so hundreds of people can read them. I could be talking to someone, and everything they say could be a lie. I wouldn’t feel like I was having a real conversation, because someone can say he or she is something, when in reality he/she is a twisted and demented human being, who takes pleasure in harassing people online. Each day on the community was different. Some I enjoyed, and others made me despise the idea of ever having to return to the same site the next day.
Inside the majority of American households rest the unlimited territory of the internet. The unlimited and always advancing possibilities have unlocked powerful new tools in communication and socialization. Tools such as: long distance visual communication, international circulation of personal thoughts, and massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPG) have all led to a closer but more distant community of people. The positive side can attribute to the fact that the younger generation seems more in tune with their international counterparts. Youth have the ability to anonymously communicate with others through various message boards, mostly governed by one policy, freedom of speech. The anonymity of the internet has created a community where social outcasts mingle freely with others; a society where jocks can converse with geeks without fear of reprisal. This community releases people from the bounds of their own flesh. Yet, technological advances have pushed society into the next dimension of communication and socialization that seemingly override traditional and more personal vessels of communication.
In Sarah Nichol’s article “Cyber-Bullying and Trolling”, a view is expressed that social media does not cause bullying. According to Karyn Krawford, online anonymity has little to do with making bullies since most victims already know their attacker. In addition, often in real life, bullies and victims play the same role. As director of Cyborg Australia and expert on cyber psychology, Krawford has st...
Public opinion is often emotional rather than rational, so it is extremely easy to be incited and would possibly cause cyber bullying, which means to attack one person or a small group of persons by using offensive language. The damage caused by cyber bullying to a person is not virtual but real. An article from PR Newswire called “Cyber Hunting and Cyber Bullying” tells a st...