Don't Feed the Trolls: a Cautionary Tale
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Don’t Feed the Trolls: others (Linux, of course). In fact, the phrase originated as a reference to the A Cautionary Tale comic book the Fantastic Four, as one of the characters could turn himself DANA SAMUEL into a Human Torch. Chat participants would use the HTML‐styled, bracketed annotation to insult other participants online. In Eddo Stern’s Best. Flame War. Ever. we are presented with an online argu‐ <flame on> You’re pretty stupid for ment over seemingly insignificant not knowing what MMPORPG means. game‐playing topics that grows quickly Go look it up on Wiki. </flame off> out of proportion and out of the realm of online experience. Two collaged When the internet opened to the animated masks – each an amalgam of commercial world, and more people heraldry, knighthood, pixilated joined these groups, more language warriors, fantasy species, castles, and jargon was developed to describe shields and symbols – animate a flame the goings‐on in these communities. A war that actually took place online “troll” is one who writes nasty flames over the role‐playing game Everquest, just to make others angry and to be an MMPORPG. annoying. “Meat‐puppets” and “sock‐ Did I just make you feel like a total puppets” are those who are deceptive “newb”? about their identities or their true Online games, discussion boards and allegiances on a discussion board. communities have developed their How all very “D&D.” own language since these online It’s said, by several theorists, that worlds were first populated in people can be more uninhibited online, research and academia, and then, later they can change their personality, role‐ (post‐cold war, after the military had play and morph into who they no need for such a specialized perceive themselves to be. A cartoon in network, and the internet was com‐ the New Yorker many years ago was mercialized) by the home‐computer‐ made famous for depicting this using public at large. Short forms and experience so succinctly. acronyms were first seen on the A dog sitting at the computer says to “usenet” discussion boards and another, “On the internet, nobody knows “internet relay chat” spaces, and many you’re a dog.” of these have made their way into our Supposedly, the anonymity of the popular everyday chat/SMS‐inspired internet gives people of all walks of life speak – IMO, LOL, BRB. the freedom to be someone different, to lose their identities and, at times, to The term “flame war” developed as be unafraid of being not only assertive heated discussions arose over typi‐ but aggressive. cally nerdy topics, such as which Also, because online communication operating system was better than the lacks many of our human cues – the power of voice and intonation, We’ll settle this outside, after school. facial cues, non‐verbal communication Another participant on the discussion – posts are often misinterpreted. board steps in to break it up. But why Humour and sarcasm are taken liter‐ does the flame spread out of control in ally and become offensive; jokes are the first place? What leads to such an thought to be personal attacks. Anyone who’s ever had an email mis‐ inappropriate, disturbing display? interpreted by someone else knows how easy it is to see your best inten‐ I can only imagine that most people tions thwarted by the plainness of who populate online discussions – even textual online communications. casually – have been in a flame war. I’ve been in my fair share, dating back to the This is why nerds invented emoticons. days of BBS culture. When things get Really, I’m joking. See? I’m smiling. I’m personal, the gloves come off. And it laughing with you, not at you. might be more men than women who flame, say statistics, but that isn’t a ;) conclusive binary. These missed cues are farcical in Your momma. worlds like online dating, where the Why the impulse to make it pesonal? worst that might happen is you have It’s non‐constructive and illogical. If dinner with someone you never want words are primary in a text‐based to see again in a quest for love. community, then why isn’t logic? Ad How could I ever have thought this hominem attacks are the last resort of boor was at all interesting? the losing team. But the flame war is meant to be Yeah, well, you smell. violent, not loving. Stern’s flaming Such attacks convey a false sense of protagonists, like any online daters, superiority. Stern’s flame war shows dare to move their experiences into the this schoolyard logic at its finest. The real world. Hostile, personal and non‐ masks are so similar, as online, the only constructive insults grow quickly out of shared characteristic is the text and control, and before long, the elder of graphics of the screen. But Stern has the two players (the“Newb”) has given voice to these characters – the challenged the other to a grudge match “King of Bards” (our elder storyteller in the real world, suggesting venues in warrior) and “Squire Rex” (the younger states that have no such prohibitory royal). He has made assumptions about laws. their backgrounds, nationalities, The more experienced player is intonations in this act, and made the younger – and displays a superiority grudge‐match conclusion seem even that perhaps any emotional teenager more absurd as a result. In the end, the might. But his bravado stays online. It flame becomes an ember, then ash. is the older character – who claims to have actually served in battle, fought Next time. You’re so dead. in wars – who quickly takes the bait and crosses the line. .