Book Review
This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things
By Whitney Phillips
We have always had trolls.
That’s the big takeaway from “This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things,” Whitney Phillips’ PhD-thesis-adapted-to-pop-sociology-book. Yes, that’s right, this is a sociology dissertation on 4chan and Anonymous.
She points out that trolling isn’t some modern invention, but rather part of a grand scummy tradition! The mischievous trickster God shows up again and again in mythology, from Loki to Coyote to Krishna. Some of the trolls she meets even revere Socrates for his pro trolling skills (specifically, sea lioning), asking incessant questions innocently to try to trick his students into taking an indefensible position.
Phillips seeks out small trolling communities online, at first pretending to be a troll herself, then revealing herself as a researcher and asking to interview them one-on-one. Surprisingly, many agree to this.
All the interviews are anonymous and online. She agrees that this is a big limitation of her study. Most trolls present as white and male. But are they? Maybe they’re lying. Or faking for lulz. She’s aware of this problem.
She focuses more on the symbolic significance of their speech and actions — e.g., how whiteness and maleness operates as a way to dominate others. Trolls openly wield racist and misogynist slurs, while asserting that only the troll has the authority to determine if their intent is truly racist/misogynist, or if they’re “just trolling.” Phillips believes that their claim to this authority is an important part of trolling.
The part of the book I still think most about is the relationship between 4chan and the media, particularly Fox News. The trolls think up increasingly outrageous stunts to get attention. The cable news shows eat it up. Weird news is fun and outrageous. The media gets to shake their fists in outrage or fear or judgement or awe.
Phillips’ research anticipates the current troll/media outrage cycle: 4chan “fakes” a hate symbol, then the media reports on it, then real hate groups see the reporting and start using it as a real hate symbol.
In one episode, Anonymous convinces Fox News that all 4chan users are computer masters “who can hack your computer by closing their eyes and merely thinking about it.” It reminded me of that recurring gag in Game of Thrones: magic exists, but no one knows its rules or limitations. So many con-men in the books claim to have magic powers, or to have seen magic. Similarly, in our world, everyone knows hackers exist, but few people are sure what they can do. Trolls have enjoyed claiming god-like hacking powers and laughing at the gullible.
Phillips doesn’t come up with many great fixes. That’s OK. Wendy Zuckerman on Science Vs once commented that you can judge the trustworthiness of a study by the “limitations” section. An industry-funded paper often spins an all-encompassing theory out of a few meager data points. Solid academic work has a large section on weaknesses of the methodology or alternative explanations.
Sometimes it’s refreshing to read an academic sociology study that doesn’t have all the answers.
