Summary Of “How Trolls Are Ruining The Internet”. In The

Virtually all of us believe that we are in control of our lives but unconsciously the internet has managed to signification influence our actions, thoughts and beliefs. It has allowed us to think it’s normal to share our daily movements with our alleged followers, sharing our inner and deepest secrets; we are trying to make a lasting impression to the world while trying to seek external validation. Sometimes we compare our own lives to those of who we follow and become obsessed that our life doesn't live up to others, allowing us to create doubt in ourselves. Is it right that “girls seek comfort on social media when they are worried” rather than talking to her parents? No, it’s not! We as millions of us regularly seek external validation we leave the flood gates wide open for people to manipulate some vulnerable states of mind. The modern term associated with people that abuse the social network is – troll. “A troll in internet slang, is somebody who deliberately upsets others be starting arguments or posting inflammatory messages on blogs, chartrooms or forums” Therefore, the “anonymity of the internet is the perfect playground” for trolls, but we shouldn't let them prey on our vulnerability, we shouldn't succumb to the exploit they are trying to achieve. Trolls are experts on detecting your negativity and will play on that, knowing that you are anxious to

When I hear the word troll, two very distinct images come to mind. The first is the fuzzy and yellow creature from Dora, the second is someone who abuses the internet's anonymity as a means to spread chaos without fear of penalty. To find a YouTube comment section without disorder from ignorance or arrogance is to find a four-leaved clover. The most awful of all are those who go out of their way to spread hate. Yet we shrug and call them trolls. Such nasty creatures they are. They bar bridges on the sole purpose to make everyone's life harder. While I can understand it's easier to say something mean behind a computer screen where the connection to the target is so impersonal, I can't seem to wrap my mind around the pure hatred certain

universities following each allegation of racism, despite his willingness to debate the students who attended his presentations. The demonstrations which sought to ‘no-platform’ Yiannopoulos also reveals an interesting dichotomy in the sphere of U.S. politics: despite freedom of speech being momentously important to the U.S constitution, members of the progressive left utilise the notion that Yiannopoulos is a white supremacist to justify refusing him a platform in which he can cultivate and debate his ideology; in short, protestors are denying themselves the opportunity to defeat him in debate on the basis of his purported

Life is a tough place where ideas and opinions can be smacked down by anyone at anytime, but because of the internet people can find a lifeline in others when they log online. However, not all ideas are constructive or destructive, but often when someone feels offended they look for someone else to confide in. Someone that understands them, relates to them, and accepts them. Seife observes in society that “The most potent weapon for fighting off uncomfortable facts is other people- a network of the faithful who are willing to believe with you (291)”. It is great when you finally find someone who understands you, when you are feeling alone. However, when people start looking online for support to do unfavorable things it can turn harmless quirks into negligent situations. Seife references Mrs. Martin, who was part of an apocalyptic cult and claimed that the “spaceman was going to come save her and her fellow followers the a few hours before the world was about to end (290)”. Naturally, this hasn’t happened yet as we are standing here today, but members of the group all sacrificed many things such as their homes, cars, and based on what one person said. This is why the internet is dangerous, anyone can share their ideas online and through the internet this process can happen at an exponential rate with even larger groups of

It is argued that no platforming is not a genuine form of activism because there is no true harm occurring, rather a form of discomfort coming out of a disagreement with the topic. It is also said that subjective experience is exclusive and consequently is “easily exploitable”1 because there is no way to adjudicate since a minority groups claims cannot be understood fully by another group. No platforming not only doesn’t allow greater exposure to alternative views, but it “presumes absolute knowledge” of right and wrong. Lastly, it is argued that the purpose of a platform is to “allow for others to question the ideas put forth…it is through questioning that [society] determine[s] legitimacy”1 for itself. Therefore, no platforming “stymies social justice”1, is both “counter-productive and incoherent”1, and insultingly underestimates a student’s ability to think critically to determine what they define as

It also says that, “The people doing the bullying know they've crossed a line, too. It's not a one-off joke or insult — it's constant harassment and threats that go beyond typical fun teasing or a nasty comment made in anger.” (New). Some cyberbullies may have accidentally said something which may have hurt someone. It may look spontaneous as a consequence of the tone and nature in the messages on the web.

Tillman states that vulnerable communities often find themselves the biggest targets for anonymous trolling. Like Coleman and Milner, Tillman believes that anonymous communication has its place on the internet, but that its important to understand how our societal problems can be made worse when users are not required to be accountable for what they say, and how this can unfairly affect some individuals more than

“One’s dignity may be assaulted, vandalized, and cruelly mocked, but it can never be taken away unless it is surrendered,” said Michael J. Fox. Just as the quote states, throughout life we are constantly put on trial by our peers and companions. As humans beings we are far from perfect and it seems like it is human nature to find the flaws in others personalities and actions, poking fun at them at the expense of the victims. Some may know this behavior by a term called bullying and whether you agree or not there is no doubt in anyone’s mind that this behavior has a new weapon at their disposal; the internet meme. The dictionary definition for meme is “a cultural item in the form of an image, video, phrase, etc., that is spread via the internet

The debate side against no platforming argued that currently “there is no way to distinguish between the cases of speakers that cause genuine harm, and cases that cause trivial offence or discomfort.” (Monica)1 . They also say that “no platforming stymies social justice” (Monica)2. The ideology behind these comments are based on the fact that people’s feelings and subjective opinions, cannot trump the freedom speech or association, caused by no platforming. On top of this they argue no platforming is an illegitimate form of activism based on the

This is seen through our infamous "Let me take a selfie" culture and our narcissistic lifestyles. Not only is this seen in real life but also on the internet. Because of the protection anonymity creates, one can choose to be whoever they want. And that much protection can ultimately become dangerous. Thanks to the internet, one can read some of the most disgusting and controversial comments and commentary. Users called 'trolls' incite arguments on social media for their enjoyment, many discussions can end horrifically, Comments such as "Go kill yourself' or "Drink Bleach" are increasingly becoming the norm. Several stories and cases have opened up on the subject on Cyberbullying such as the story of Amanda Todd and The Ryan Halligan Case (1989-2003). If it was not for initiative programs such as Cartoon Network's Stop Bullying Campaign and several startup programs in middle and high schools are all across America, the issue of bullying and showing intolerance towards each other would surely be more

A great many people realize that harassing isn't right. Calling somebody names has positively no advantageous reason. In addition, hitting somebody makes a jerk feel great at the time while doing lasting harm to the individual being misled. With the Internet, individuals now have much more chances to spook through cyberbullying. This incorporates sending rough pictures, posting fake website pages, or tweeting mean messages. Cyberbullying has consequently prompted to an ascent in a totally new sort of tormenting.

In addition to supporter shaming being abundant in daily face-to-face interactions, social media, such as Twitter and Facebook, become a breeding ground for supporter shaming. On Twitter, Kevin Allred, a professor at Rutgers University, wrote, “If you’re white & claiming being called racist for supporting Trump is a ‘bias incident,’ you 've lived the most privileged life ever! Ever!” The supporter shaming on social media, however, did not stop at the individual level; it grew to a systematic banning of vocal and enthusiastic Trump supporters on Twitter. Charlie Nash wrote in a Breitbart article, “…It appears that Twitter’s war on free speech is directed at a specific generation of libertarians and alternative conservative voices, many of whom are…supporters of Donald Trump…they’re going after the social network’s most influential Trump supporters…” While vocal Trump supporters were being banned on Twitter, there did not seem to be an issue with death threats being posed toward Donald Trump and his supporters, seeing as composers of such tweets were not banned. This type of behavior, engaged in by social media platforms, made political discourse hostile, but the opposite should be the goal of such media platforms. It should be a duty of the media to encourage political discourse and to encourage people to actively participate in politics, since it affects everyone, not to punish those who have opposing beliefs.

A starting attempt to dissect this is to decipher whether these attacks and percecutions online are a free speech or criminal issue. It’s a criminal act to legitimately threaten someone, this is not disputed, what is disputed is how to determine the difference, as Tom Slater phrases it, “between a joke, criticism, the posturing of a keyboard wielding shut-in and genuine threats,” (Slater). Slater believes online harassment is a free speech issue, one that cannot be dealt with by with by governing forces, or higher courts. He believes it’s not an issue that can easily be done away with, and is not something that law can interfere with for fear

For the past decade or so there has been a considerable shift in the way we communicate with each other; instead of speaking face-to-face, we prefer to stay in touch by way of a Facebook post or Tweet. Social media dominates our life whether we’re using it, or not. However, not all online dissonance has been healthy and civil. The internet has seen a rise in the number of trolls and predators that lurk the dark corners of the Internet. Threats, and heinous insults flood media networks like Reddit and Snapchat. Online predators who fling insults are enamored by the internet’s alluring anonymity and can’t give it up. Like Christine Rosen says in her article called, “In the Beginning Was the Word,” “technology has introduced new words, changed the meaning of others, and has even introduced new forms of language and communication” (230). The evolutionary trend and prevalence of people intentionally offending others online has led to a

Due to this easy access to a digital platform and worldwide audience, many see this as an opportunity for sharing ideas, thoughts, beliefs and practising freedom of speech. For many this is a great opportunity to reach out and connect with people from across the globe through their online ‘profiles’. Some people find that a digital voice or message has a greater effect than a literal voice thus boosting people’s confidence in sharing things with others online. Although this can be viewed as a positive way of allowing someone to communicate their thoughts with others, some individuals take this opportunity of being hidden behind a screen to spread hateful, rude and disrespectful comments with others on the worldwide web. These individuals, often referred to as ‘trolls’ will often mock, threaten, and sometimes blackmail others using their online profiles. Jonathan Bishop claims that “trolling in general is the posting of messages via a communications network that are intended to be provocative, offensive or menacing”. (Bishop, 2013, p28)