Reading 10: Trolls, Cyberbullying, and Anonymity
Trolls are people who intentionally incite emotional responses in order to cause fights or hurt people. They may do this because they’re sadistic, but sometimes, they use it to rile people up in support for a specific view they may support. They may do this by posting provocative comments on comment sections of Facebook pages with big community followings. From my observations, I would say that the causes of trolling are largely due to both the sadism of trolls as well as how easy it is for people to get riled up about their stances on a particular topic. As unfortunate as it is, one of the consequences of trolling is that now, “Very often, hate, anxiety, and anger drive participation with the platform” (LaFrance). When you have trolls stirring up anger, it helps changes our online culture into one of divisiveness and hate. As such, our online discourse becomes fueled much more by anger than thoughtful discussion. Others agree as “the vast majority of those surveyed — 81 percent of them — said they expect the tone of online discourse will either stay the same or get worse in the next decade” (LaFrance). “Cyber bullying is bullying that takes place over digital devices like cell phones, computers, and tablets” (stopbullying.gov). The difference between cyber bullying and regular bullying is that cyber bullying is more omnipresent. The effects of regular bullying can be more felt in person, whereas the effects of cyberbullying can be felt from anywhere. It’s also easier to rile up others to join in cyberbullying versus regular bullying due to technology’s ease of use. “The situation can easily grow much larger than anyone ever suspected it could” (Beall). I think cyberbullying is a major problem on the Internet. While “there are often refrains of “just turn off the computer and walk away!” (Beall), “unfortunately in this day and age people need to be online, even on social media, for their jobs and their livelihoods, as well as to keep in touch with family members” (Beall). The Internet is so integrated into everything we do nowadays whether it’s our job or maintaining our evolving social lives that it’s really difficult to actually just step away. There is something to be said about methods that help prevent it (like blocking people), but unfortunately there are often easy ways to get around protective measures like this. In addition, I think trolling is also a major problem on the Internet. To be honest, my personal approach to handling trolls is just to ignore them. I rarely post anything on social media, and I often don’t think trolls are worth my time and energy. They definitely aren’t worth the satisfaction of a reaction from me. With regards to preventing or suppressing online harassment, the ethical and moral obligations of technology companies is tricky. There is an argument to be made that suppressing harassment infringes upon free speech. However, I believe they have the right to have and enforce terms of service guidelines that protect people from online harassment, and honestly, I think maybe they should write and enforce these guidelines. I also think they are free to modify those terms with changing times.
Gamergate is something that honestly makes no sense to me. These gamers are trying to be social justice warriors by fighting against the corruption of game reviewers (by focusing in on a woman who’s game wasn’t even reviewed by Kotaku, the company of the guy she “slept with?”) and for equality (by fighting against any notion of celebrating milestones for underrepresented groups?). As Wagner says, “‘God, who cares?’ is a rote reaction among a certain sort of person when it’s announced that the hero of a game is a woman or black, or when an athlete comes out as gay, or when some other milestone is achieved. The idea is that we’re all so equal now that true intolerance begins with even noting that anyone is different from the norm, said norm of course being a young, straight, middle-class white guy. To get to this mindset requires a certain willful blindness to privilege and the ways it has embedded itself in the very structures of American life” (Wagner).
I think “real name” policies are useful in combatting online abuse. It makes people more accountable for what they’re doing. I use services that use my real name like Facebook because it gives me a way to represent myself online. I don’t always want a veil. Sometimes, I want those who know me to know what I say or post is me saying or posting it.
To me, it seems like anonymity just breeds hate which makes online discussion a war zone instead of a thoughtful conversation. However, I think that if you’re willing to stand by your beliefs and harassments then fine. You should own up to that if you’re willing to be a provoker and not hide behind the veil of anonymity. What you do or say may make you an asshole, but at least you’re an asshole with integrity. The caveat though is that you do paint a target on your back if everyone knows everything about you and that too is dangerous. I’m not really sure what the solution is, but I think I do lean more on the side of anonymity as a curse.
