How Trolls Are Ruining the Internet - Polidicks

[QUOTE=ilikecorn;51003164]Both sides have become more extreme as we continue to dig in our heels. The world, dispite looking united at a glance, is extremely divided on multiple key issues. The internet is just a reflection of what's going on in the world.[/QUOTE] Exactly. I might add that the world is changing too, economically speaking. We're in a transitional period right now where various industries are becoming increasingly automated, not just factory jobs but also the service industry, office work, everything. Socially, we're also becoming increasingly web-focused and technologically driven. Smart Phones only became a thing a few years ago. This creates a ripple effect through society that causes our way of life to change and everybody is looking for something or somebody to blame.

[QUOTE=Doozle;51003142]Real talk though, it does l seem the internet has got more hateful in the past couple of years. It's not as if I'm new to the internet, I've been posting here for 11 years. Maybe it coincides with the rises of right wing politics in Europe, Donald Trump in the US. It's entirely possible I've just softened as I've got older and see it more[/QUOTE] Because there is no respect for context and nuance when it comes to arguments on the internet anymore. [media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAz4WN1patM[/media] And while there wasn't a lot before it actually seems to have gotten worse over the last several years.

It doesn't help when people go on witch hunts to get people fired for "offending" them.

[QUOTE=ilikecorn;51003183]The stakes have grown higher over the last few years. And we've continued the "if you're not for us, then you're against us" rhetoric. People continue to ignore other opinions and shut them down without debate. Leading to likeminded individuals banding together and acting. If we want it to stop, we have to actually debate the side we don't agree with, instead of saying "no, your wrong, i'm right, #dealwithit"[/QUOTE] Probably because for all of the venom both sides hurl none of them can defend their own ideas for shit.

[QUOTE=Sgt Doom;51003067]I look forward to next decade when journalism catches up another ancient staple of the Internet e.g. Rule 34.[/QUOTE] Didn't that already happen when the Erin Esurance mascot literally had like 2 pages of porn from google images?

Can we just address the elephant in the room and admit that /pol/ is ruining the internet for everyone?

Trolls have been on the internet since the days of newsgroups and shitty gif laden geocities websites. I think its media making dumb reports is killing the internet.

[quote]the Internet’s personality has changed. Once it was a geek with lofty ideals about the free flow of information. Now, if you need help improving your upload speeds the web is eager to help with technical details, but if you tell it you’re struggling with depression it will try to goad you into killing yourself.[/quote] [IMG]http://new4.fjcdn.com/pictures/Kill_cf9232_1392645.jpg[/IMG] [editline]5th September 2016[/editline] Have these people been in some sort of padded version of the internet? If anything, the edges have gotten softer.

It's not just internet 'trolls', for the most part it's sensitive people in this day and age. Announcing that you're offended is pretty much telling the world that you can't control your emotions, so everyone else should do it for you :v:

[QUOTE=FreyasFighter;51004190]It's not just internet 'trolls', for the most part it's sensitive people in this day and age. Announcing that you're offended is pretty much telling the world that you can't control your emotions, so everyone else should do it for you :v:[/QUOTE] There are a fair amount of people that just love to press buttons. They'll do it to get a rise out of them, and they get all emotional because people are intentionally doing this to them. This cycle has been going on the internet for decades.

[QUOTE=V12US;51003421]Can we just address the elephant in the room and admit that /pol/ is ruining the internet for everyone?[/QUOTE] this. it really is. the racist bigot attitude has gone up 10 fold after /pol/ came into existence, all over the internet, because it is its own little hugbox where people can go on there and complain about how the jews are causing all of the worlds problems, etc etc, and these are people that wouldnt get accepted anywhere else. /pol/ is just as bad as tumblr, in a different way, because they come in droves and drown out other opinions, making people think that its the norm. its part of why gamergate is seen as a fucking joke to a lot of people.

[QUOTE=Naught;51004375]this. it really is. the racist bigot attitude has gone up 10 fold after /pol/ came into existence, all over the internet, because it is its own little hugbox where people can go on there and complain about how the jews are causing all of the worlds problems, etc etc, and these are people that wouldnt get accepted anywhere else. /pol/ is just as bad as tumblr, in a different way, because they come in droves and drown out other opinions, making people think that its the norm. its part of why gamergate is seen as a fucking joke to a lot of people.[/QUOTE] Eh, tumblr does have its extremist side. Not as bad as 4ch pol, they are just really lonely and mad.

[QUOTE=Naught;51004375]this. it really is. the racist bigot attitude has gone up 10 fold after /pol/ came into existence, all over the internet, because it is its own little hugbox where people can go on there and complain about how the jews are causing all of the worlds problems, etc etc, and these are people that wouldnt get accepted anywhere else. /pol/ is just as bad as tumblr, in a different way, because they come in droves and drown out other opinions, making people think that its the norm. its part of why gamergate is seen as a fucking joke to a lot of people.[/QUOTE] Calling /pol/ a hugbox is stupid, they're constantling slinging feces at eachother but a hugbox is something that protects you from disagreeable opinions, if you go to /pol/ youll find every lunatic with his own version of events. Meanwhile on neogaf polite disagreement will net you permabans because they suspect you of secretely being right wing, thats a hugbox. And guess which website does more to contribute to right wing extremism in this situation, let me tell you, it's not /pol/. Sites like reddit and twitter becoming hugboxes does more to support extremists than it does lessen them, as now you force those people onto their own websites where their opinions will never be challenged and they will get more and more radicalized. Banning discussion of something doesnt change people's minds, it only prevents people from challenging their opinions, thats the true problem behind censorship. Sure it doesnt matter on smaller sites, but we're talking about the giants of the internet here. Also what does gamergate have to do with any of what you said? GG is a perfect case of people freaking out over differing opinions and trying to censor discussion of the subject entirely, forming hugboxes, that includes reddit, SA, neogaf and more. I guess more people having an opinion who "drown out" other people is somehow a bad thing? So we should ban every correct opinion that also happens to be the most common?

People who get offended by (obvious) trolls are ruining the internet. Best thing about internet is watching some idiot take the bait and get really angry at some guy that's just trying to fuck with them

[QUOTE=phygon;51003485][IMG]http://new4.fjcdn.com/pictures/Kill_cf9232_1392645.jpg[/IMG] [editline]5th September 2016[/editline] Have these people been in some sort of padded version of the internet? If anything, the edges have gotten softer.[/QUOTE] it's amazing, because this is exactly how the internet has been since it pretty much began. all these softies getting onto it, thinking it's a virtual paradise and safe space are what's ruining it.

Suicide wasn't always a meme

[QUOTE=Talvy;51004899]Suicide wasn't always a meme[/QUOTE] But you have to admit it's the best one.

I only really know of suicide being a meme in the form of "An hero", unless there's been others since.

The internet to me has always been a place where you earn your reputation with people. You piss off enough people, expect to be IP flooded or someone calling your work calling you a cunt. You want people to treat you decently? Treat people the way you wanna be treated. It's wild west-like in that aspect, and it's a good aspect because where most people are use to being cuddled by those around them, everyone on the internet is behind some sense of anonymity and is able to call you out on your bullshit. [editline]5th September 2016[/editline] [QUOTE=Cureless;51005172]I only really know of suicide being a meme in the form of "An hero", unless there's been others since.[/QUOTE] Tons of em' Look at all the mass-shooters in recent years. /pol/ and /v/ keep a scoreboard of "highscores" and take the piss out of people who say they are going to shoot up places. [t]https://images.encyclopediadramatica.se/3/39/MEGAKILLERS.jpg[/t]

Coincidentally, I was on 4Chan last night actually talking about how the internet has changed. I read this article weeks ago and actually thought about posting this on here (Didn't because it isn't news or really truthful). The internet has gone from Geocities type of expression to Social media expression. Non-Brand to Brand, which to me is simple to see. Also a lot of people who were on the internet at the time (At least the case for me) were in gaming communities as social media didn't exist. Times is just using "troll" as a buzzword for anyone against their agenda. Trolls as I knew them were people who didn't necessarily intend to inflict harm or damage but rather "Stirred The Pot" which had the possibility of resulting in that. What she describes in the article is just plain harassment and is should not be considered on the level of trolling. Also from what I have heard about sites like 4Chan, ABS, and Something Awful is that they are more tame today than in the early 2000's. Not sure the credibility of that but the Internet as a whole was never a personification as Times portrays it but rather a blank Canvas for anyone to come and draw on. Any other thoughts?

I've been seeing a lot of articles from mainstream press about trolls on the internet just over the summer and I'm wondering what exactly is contributing to what has otherwise been a pernicious aspect of the instant worldwide communications. [QUOTE=Mattk50;51004479]Calling /pol/ a hugbox is stupid, they're constantling slinging feces at eachother but a hugbox is something that protects you from disagreeable opinions, if you go to /pol/ youll find every lunatic with his own version of events. Meanwhile on neogaf polite disagreement will net you permabans because they suspect you of secretely being right wing, thats a hugbox. [/QUOTE] I won't disagree with you about Neogaf and Reddit, but /pol/ can be pretty echo chambery. A lot of it is satire of course, but any opinions that run contrary to the zeitgeist are usually cast aside as being from "shills". The only real difference between /pol/ and a traditional board is no moderation to enforce a hugbox but the feces slinging is definitely aimed in a certain direction.

[QUOTE=FreyasFighter;51004190]It's not just internet 'trolls', for the most part it's sensitive people in this day and age. Announcing that you're offended is pretty much telling the world that you can't control your emotions, so everyone else should do it for you :v:[/QUOTE] it's more like announcing to everyone that you'll lash out and give trolls exactly what they want, which makes them a target for more trolling

[QUOTE=Raidyr;51005451]I've been seeing a lot of articles from mainstream press about trolls on the internet just over the summer and I'm wondering what exactly is contributing to what has otherwise been a pernicious aspect of the instant worldwide communications. I won't disagree with you about Neogaf and Reddit, but /pol/ can be pretty echo chambery. A lot of it is satire of course, but any opinions that run contrary to the zeitgeist are usually cast aside as being from "shills". The only real difference between /pol/ and a traditional board is no moderation to enforce a hugbox but the feces slinging is definitely aimed in a certain direction.[/QUOTE] This is true. For the most part, you won't be banned on 8/pol/ for disagreeing with people (unless the mods are convinced you're a trolly shill, or "searching for private information", or you're derailing a perfectly good thread about how cultural marxism is forcing academia to adopt Judeo-afrocentrism), but you can and will be shouted down by other users. That's pretty much exactly how an imageboard or traditional chatroom moderates itself: drowning disagreeable information out with shit and image macros.

[QUOTE=Raidyr;51005451]I won't disagree with you about Neogaf and Reddit, but /pol/ can be pretty echo chambery. A lot of it is satire of course, but any opinions that run contrary to the zeitgeist are usually cast aside as being from "shills". The only real difference between /pol/ and a traditional board is no moderation to enforce a hugbox but the feces slinging is definitely aimed in a certain direction.[/QUOTE] I feel like there's a pretty big divide between moderation enforced echo chambers and one enforced by just having people with a certain opinion yelling at eachother. You're correct that it does get echo chambery, but i think its acceptable when anyone can go and make an honest attempt to argue something without just getting instantly banned. Sites like /pol/ do a lot to defuse offensive terminology, too. Nobody can reasonably get offended when everyone is just yelling profanities at eachother... and words are just in a continual cycle of going from normal to offensive anyways, so its not sustainable to do anything else. I think it was [URL="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LHdYTngNxk"]this vid [/URL]that commented on that a bit.

[QUOTE=Timof2009;51005404]Coincidentally, I was on 4Chan last night actually talking about how the internet has changed. I read this article weeks ago and actually thought about posting this on here (Didn't because it isn't news or really truthful). The internet has gone from Geocities type of expression to Social media expression. Non-Brand to Brand, which to me is simple to see. Also a lot of people who were on the internet at the time (At least the case for me) were in gaming communities as social media didn't exist. Times is just using "troll" as a buzzword for anyone against their agenda. Trolls as I knew them were people who didn't necessarily intend to inflict harm or damage but rather "Stirred The Pot" which had the possibility of resulting in that. What she describes in the article is just plain harassment and is should not be considered on the level of trolling. Also from what I have heard about sites like 4Chan, ABS, and Something Awful is that they are more tame today than in the early 2000's. Not sure the credibility of that but the Internet as a whole was never a personification as Times portrays it but rather a blank Canvas for anyone to come and draw on. Any other thoughts?[/QUOTE] SA hasn't really changed much since it came around but I can tell you for damn sure 4chan is a whole hell of a lot more tame than it used to be.

[QUOTE=Doozle;51003142] Maybe it coincides with the rises of right wing politics in Europe, Donald Trump in the US. It's entirely possible I've just softened as I've got older and see it more[/QUOTE] Ahahahahahahah. What? The internet has reached the limelight. All this has been going on before, it's just now that the mainstream is finding out about it.

[QUOTE=butre;51006576]SA hasn't really changed much since it came around but I can tell you for damn sure 4chan is a whole hell of a lot more tame than it used to be.[/QUOTE] Yeah, 4chan is pretty much all talk now. There were some people whose lives were actually ruined by 4chan users conducting "raids". It's lost the edge that it used to have, mainly because it got more mainstream.

[QUOTE=Pops;51004748]it's amazing, because this is exactly how the internet has been since it pretty much began. all these softies getting onto it, thinking it's a virtual paradise and safe space are what's ruining it.[/QUOTE] yeah man the internet is great because you can just harass people anywhere in the world. and because it's always been like that let's just keep it like that! sounds like a great idea! I can't wait to swat the next guy who thinks [I]my anime[/I] is not the best one!

Remember when people used to say "don't feed the trolls", now we have articles dedicated to them. Why do people not understand that people pathetic enough to "troll" on twitter are attention seeking

[QUOTE=LTJGPliskin;51006725]Yeah, 4chan is pretty much all talk now. There were some people whose lives were actually ruined by 4chan users conducting "raids". It's lost the edge that it used to have, mainly because it got more mainstream.[/QUOTE] Yea from what I've heard years ago you could drop an IP in 4chan and they would eviscerate it, but as you have said they are more "watered down" from more people joining in.