The Internet Troll: U MAD BRO?!

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Recommended: Cyberbullying putting a stop to it

The Internet has become a vast and limitless place for education, entertainment, and community. It is an extraordinary virtual world that abets in satisfying our insatiable curiosity. Every World Wide Web voyager controls their adventure from the security of their living room cockpit while retaining anonymity through a username. From this invention we have changed our daily routines dramatically; we have developed a desire to share our thoughts and opinions with complete strangers. From these two key elements: ambiguity and self-expression a new being has been forged, The Internet Troll.
The Internet Troll has a primary goal to entertain themselves by bringing chaos to others. On the receiving end the result can be as minor as a ruined morning, and as severe as physical harm and even in some cases suicide. The Internet Troll will generally target a specific group or person who believes strongly in a specific topic. For example, a religious discussion board where participants will generally provide personal encouraging stories. They do this with the intent to benefit those who might be questioning their faith, or dealing with a traumatic experience which caused them to stray from their values. If all goes as planned the inquiring party will read these and find comfort in the heartfelt and sincere comments posted. This atmosphere up to this point has been positive, a community of like-minded individuals working towards a constructive end result. An Internet Troll will read these posts and enter one of their own, taking on the role of the antagonist. This will cause a viewer of the posts to express their unhappiness with the troll's comment. This is fuel for the troll, and what is regarded to as "feeding the troll". When the tro...

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...ods are uncertain on how to suppress these antagonists. The World Wide Web will play a pivotal role in the development of our future generations, it is imperative that we find a method to regulate and police it without diminishing the characteristics that have made it what it is today.

Works Cited

Auerbach, David. "Anonymity as Culture: Case Studies." Triple Canopy. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Apr. 2014.
Phillips, Whitney. "Don't Feed the Trolls? It's Not That Simple." The Daily Dot. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Apr. 2014.
Auerbach, David. “Anonymity as Culture: Treatise.” Issue #15 – Triple Canopy. Triple Canopy, 09 Feb. 2012. Web.
The Holy Bible, King James Version. New York: American Bible Society: 1999; Bartleby.com, 2000. www.bartleby.com/108/.
Chen, Adrian. "Unmasking Reddit's Violentacrez, The Biggest Troll on the Web." Gawker. Adrian Chen, n.d. Web. 12 Apr. 2014.

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