How a disaster is regarded in an online community
Giovanna Plowman, “Tampon Girl” is noted for her original upload of eating a tampon on her Facebook profile, though it was re-uploaded to YouTube and became a ‘reaction’ video to some. Trolling to Whitney Phillips, was highly regarded on Facebook and considered an “optimal stomping ground” (Phillips 2016 80). As Facebook became aware of trolls, features were implemented to prevent unnecessary interaction with potential threats. As a result, “many trolls established off-site strongholds on YouTube or Skype, where groups could maintain ties even in the face of certain profile-death” (Phillips 2016 81). In Plowman’s case, trolling of death wasn’t the matter.
If you type “Giovanna Plowman” on YouTube, you will find her channel videos in addition to re-uploaded content of her famous disaster. From observations, YouTube does not remove content until it has been reported numerous times and extreme violations are present. Considering the vast number of videos present within this platform, comments aren’t supervised — copyright material is. No matter where you go, trolls will always follow. Even with Facebook’s implementations, less-serious trolls still exist. In Plowman’s situation, the online community of YouTube both hate her actions, and forgive her. If you look at her confession video, the comments vary.
YouTube opens the doors for most potential trolls, their actions will never cease unless channel owners disable the comment section for each video. While they do have a policy center, many state that YouTube never fixes the issue. Sure, people might make parodies and other content during leisure time — doesn’t mean people should exploit the flaws present (Phillips 2016 83). Trolls look for vulnerabilities in targets, they also choose how to touch on emotions.
While the online community of YouTube consists of everyone collaborating and sharing content, it is a learning experience in itself. Going back to Plowman’s confession video, she apologizes for her actions and tries to explain how it affected her life. If one scrolls down the comment section, you’ll see non-stop hate of Plowman’s “chewing”. Some ‘trolls’ even tell her to kill herself — others defend her and tell the trolls to leave her alone. You can see that humanity isn’t completely diminished — the trolls have been put their place. With any media, you can’t always prevent actions made by others. Targets have to simply ignore those involved and look towards a brighter space.
