After just learning about the internet term trolling and all the negative connotations surrounding it it occurred to me that maybe certain kinds of trolling are not as bad as they are made out to be in the world wide web.
Trolling is a term taken from fishing lingo and means to bait your line and let it sit in the water until someone bites. In regards to internet communities it is used in a similar way and is defined as someone who baits a web community or discussion board by posting something inflammatory. The goal of this behavior is to get a rise out of people and cause an argument over the material leading to an emotional response and to disrupt the normal discussion of the community.
Trolling is usually seen as a negative thing because it becomes difficult for community members to decipher what material is true and what is false and made up by the “trolls”. Trolling can create a negative environment for members of an otherwise peaceful community. Also Trolls can try to somewhat infiltrate a newsgroup or site with their own opinions, beliefs and ideas but can this be seen as something positive for us to have a participatory culture and democracy?
There is a saying in the internet world “DNFTT” – meaning Do Not Feed The Trolls, but should we?
I think that trolling can be seen in two different lights. If someone is trolling and spewing useless information on the internet then it can divide a group and just make people angry and frustrated and more likely to completely ignore the information all together once it has been realized that the person is a troll. However I think people going into online communities, blogs and chat rooms and stirring things up can also be beneficial. I know this might sound a little ridiculous but think about it; these chat rooms and online communities are usually quite specific and more then likely all members share the same view that has bonded them together in the first place. By throwing someone in the mix whom has completely opposing views, as ludicrous as they might seem in some instances, forces people to think about things in a different light. This is very important to an active participatory culture and democratic public sphere. It causes arguments and forces people to step outside their comfort zone within the community and consider conflicting beliefs, which can be very beneficial to public debate and critical thinking. People have a tendency to seek out information online and in the media that reaffirms their previously existing beliefs and avoid information that might disrupt or disprove their current beliefs. However these trolls to a certain extent are creating a somewhat uncomfortable environment in which people are forced to consider other people’s opposing opinions and keeps them from being able to hide in the safe confines of their own group and shared beliefs. Furthermore it may also work to bring members of a community closer to one another by causing this small emotional stress and allowing them to bond together to defend their positions and beliefs against these non- believers and troublemakers.
So yes trolling can be something negative to online communities and make it difficult to decipher what’s real and what’s fake. But I think it can also be something positive if you look at it as a challenging of normal beliefs and as a tool for a critical self-analysis of your own beliefs in order to get people to “think outside the box”.
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