Why we can’t have nice things
Trolling, harassment and abuse in the virtual world and what is says about our real one
The advent of social media has created a constant stream of dialogue, news, status updates and likes that has taken over every single aspect of the world around us. Admittedly, it has proven to be a boon in many ways; increased communication, a voice to the public, awareness of different cultures, political advocacy. However, with all of its positives, it has also shone light on a darker aspect of human culture. The anonymity of online interaction has given rise to a culture of trolling, harassment and bullying. Recent cases like Gamergate and the constant celebrity harassment show how easily online trolling can escalate from harmless pranks to violent threats.
A recent study by the Pew Research Centre and Elon University suggests that the future of online discourse might be even bleaker. Researches surveyed over 1000 technology experts, scholars and government leaders and they were asked
“In the next decade, will public discourse online become more or less shaped by bad actors, harassment, trolls, and an overall tone of griping, distrust, and disgust?”
An overwhelming 81% said that they expect the tone of online public discourse to either stay the same or worsen.
This toxic online mediascape that we find ourselves in now can often have dangerous consequences in the real world and is a far cry from the kinder, gentler Internet that Tim Berners-Lee might have once envisioned.
How did we get here?
A troll is someone who makes a deliberately offensive or provocative online post with the aim of upsetting someone or eliciting an angry response from them
A word that once referred to ugly, cave-dwelling dwarfs now has been co-opted by the Internet to mean someone who is deliberately offensive or provocative. Trolls did not always have such a negative reputation. Majority of the dialogue online is provocative, and this has often lead to shining a spotlight on issues that would not have been covered by mainstream culture like the Black Lives Matter movement or the Arab Spring. Contradictory opinions and disagreements are fundamentally important to meaningful dialogue. But in real life when you disagree with someone, there are still social rules to uphold. You may argue with them for a time, but eventually you will just walk away or simply avoid the topic.
The anonymity of online discourse has led to what psychologists call the online disinhibition effect (Suler, 2004), in which factors like anonymity, invisibility, a lack of authority and not communicating in real time strip away the conventions and mores of society. And it is this unregulated, Wild West landscape that makes possible the extreme leap from not liking someone’s opinion to revealing their personal information and threatening their very safety.
In 2012, feminist gamer Anita Sarkeesian launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund a series of videos that highlighted the sexist portrayal of women in video games. The resulting backlash from the predominantly male gaming community led to bomb threats, disclosing her personal information, and a video game titled ‘Beat Up Anita Sarkeesian’. She was threatened with rape, physical assault and numerous attempts to hack her accounts.
Of course this entire episode, called Gamergate, reeks of misogyny but the volume and intensity of vitriol she received would not have been possible without the combination of anonymity and mob mentality that the Internet fosters.
Who are these trolls?
There is no real-life indicator for who is a troll and who isn’t. The motivations behind trolling someone are mostly harmless. They may range from wanting to create an online identity to amusement, boredom and in a few cases, revenge. In the right time and circumstance, we are all capable of becoming a troll. Comedian Dom Joly identified one troll who turned out to be a 14 year old girl with nine different online identities.
Sometimes, a single troll comment written by someone who may have been in a bad mood leads to an avalanche of worse comments by other participants and eventually, trolling becomes the norm.
“The idea of the basement dweller drinking Mountain Dew and eating Doritos isn’t accurate,” says former Reddit employee, Jessica Moreno. Reddit has had a longstanding history of producing extreme cases of harassment and trolling. “They would be a doctor, a lawyer, an inspirational speaker, a kindergarten teacher.” These are real people you might know. “It’s more complex than just being good or bad. It’s not all men either; women do take part in it.”
This brings up the question, are we largely decent human beings with a few bad moments or are the meticulous social norms we have constructed to allow social interaction the only things stopping us from descending into chaos?
Is there a solution?
As more occurrences of online bullying spill over into the real world, lawmakers and companies are scrambling to find a solution. The world of online trolling encompasses everything from harmless pranks, gentle snark to nastier threats. This makes it incredibly hard to regulate. Additionally, to be truly effective, most laws would have to transcend national borders because of the international nature of the Internet. Nearly all social media sites have the option to block a user or an account. However, this simply means you, the blocker, will no longer be able to see or hear from the blocked account. It does not harm or affect the perpetrator who will simply move along to the next victim.
The option to ban people from the site altogether is a more extreme one, and only invoked if a person’s life is in danger. However, most perpetrators justify their actions under the guise of ‘Free Speech’. The First Amendment of the US Constitution protects free speech and makes it difficult to punish people who post offensive messages. In the UK, under section 127 of the Communications Act of 2003 ‘it is an offence to send messages that are “grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene or menacing character”’.
The prospect of policing one’s activities on the Internet is one many are wary of. Jeff Jarvis, author of Public Parts argues “The internet does not create special threats. It’s a public square where people will be saying all sorts of things, some of them offensive”.
But the truth is, as more trolling occurs, people are becoming increasingly cautious about what they post online. An anonymous poll of TIME writers found that 80% avoided discussing a particular topic because they feared the online response. Prominent celebrities like Stephen Fry have sworn off social media because of sustained harassment. Perhaps in their quest to defend free speech, online trolls may have succeeded in curbing just that.
Reflection
I chose to enrol in this course because as a Computer Science student, it covered topics I was already interested in. Additionally, the different forms of assessment and using the Medium platform provided a welcome change from labs and exams. However, I wasn’t really expecting to learn many new things. I believed I was already well aware of the digital world we live in. Throughout the duration of the course, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I learned through the different topics covered.
The lecture format encouraged discussion and introduced me to many new view points. I also appreciated that the course material was always relevant and topical with issues like Net Neutrality and the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Discussing topics like privacy in the digital world, and Internet of Things with peers from multiple disciplines gave me an insight into different perspectives and this helped me form a stronger, well-rounded opinion.
This was particularly true in the discussion around Internet privacy. Before the lecture, I was vaguely aware of the fact that social media companies used our personal data to offer targeted ads. But the sheer extent of this invasion of privacy only became clear through the lecture. I remembered being shocked when one student said they had previously worked for a company that is capable of listening to our phones. The subtle ways our privacy is routinely breached on the Internet today was a shocking revelation and a direct action I have taken to prevent this is to clear all cookies and caches from my browsers every time I log out.
Something else I was previously unfamiliar with was writing informally on a digital platform like Medium. The style of writing and referencing differed from the academic writing I was used to. Not coming from a course that requires much writing, I enjoyed learning and using this new platform. I also appreciated the freedom we were provided in all of the assessments. I most enjoyed working on the third assignment. I chose online harassment and how it affects the digital world we live in. Diving deep into topics I was already fascinated with made researching and writing the blog posts an enjoyable experience. Another format I had never come across before was the PechaKucha. I initially found this style very hard to work with but as someone heading into a full time job, the ability to condense information and successfully engage with the audience is a skill that will be very useful.
Perhaps one of the most important things I have learnt in this course unit is the ability to think critically. Through each assessment, I was consistently pushed to form an opinion and justify it thoroughly. The ability to structure an argument and defend it is a key skill I have learnt in this course unit and is something that will be useful in the future.
Through this course, I have not only gained an insight into the various digital aspects of our world but also been able to critically examine the implications of living in such a society.
