Never Let The Trolls Win
Aug 7, 2014 10:05:20 GMT
Post by Jack Loomes on Aug 7, 2014 10:05:20 GMT
The post really doesn't have alot to do with swords, but it does relate directly to sword site.
It wasn't until I started using internet forums that I really realised the true depth of ugliness of some human beings, and that's saying something. Given my background I was not walking into internet forums exactly wet behind the ears, but I have to say that some of the worst behaviour I have ever seen humans perpetrate is through trolling.
You only need to open the paper or go to your favourite news site to see an article like this these days:
www.cinemablend.com/games/GTA-IV-iCEnhancer-3-0-Creator-Takes-Time-Off-Due-Trolls-Haters-66450.html
These kind of stories are everywhere, and that's just the ones that make it to the news. I think that goes to show how rampant the problem is. Trolling seems to be everywhere. I just didn't realise how bad the internet can make people's behaviour. There is something about the anonymity and relative impunity of the internet that turns in to a wildfire the smouldering embers of repressed rage and hatred lurking in the kinds of people who troll.
But giving air time to trolls is not what this post is about. This post is about never letting trolls win. If I had let the trolls get the best of me I would never have been able to build the world's largest online sword museum. Trolls hounded me every step of the way via abusive posts and emails. My solution was to give them as good as they get. Checking through IP addresses I often found that certain trolls were using multiple accounts to pretend to generate consensus; I mention this because it goes to show that the kind of person who would try to bully other people through the internet is really a wretched and sick little thing. If you take a good look at some of the notorious troll's lairs in the sword world, for example Sword Loser's Guide, looking in on them as an outsider you can really see trolling for what it is; and that is no better than the kind of ape-boy behaviour you see in school yards from the worst kinds of students... often too, as is the case with Sword Loser's Guide, the forums are moderated by people who are themselves trolls.
The thing you realise as you get older too is that bullies are usually motivated by two things: jealousy and a dislike about others what they fail to see about themselves. Why would a normal, healthy individual take it upon themselves to give a hard time to someone quietly going about building a resource like Sword-Site? The answer is the trolls are too lazy or stupid to get their act together to do something constructive with their own lives. I realise this, I only wish more people who have been trolled realised it too.
I hate to see news articles about people giving up on this or that because of trolling. You know what? Fuck trolls. I am determined to win everytime. I hope by sharing my experience, and by others doing the same, in time we see less news articles about trolling. I hope that as the world's cultures evolve to deal with the advent of the internet and that we develop cultures that are resilient to trolling, that can see trolling for what is, and not to take trolling to heart.
It wasn't until I started using internet forums that I really realised the true depth of ugliness of some human beings, and that's saying something. Given my background I was not walking into internet forums exactly wet behind the ears, but I have to say that some of the worst behaviour I have ever seen humans perpetrate is through trolling.
You only need to open the paper or go to your favourite news site to see an article like this these days:
www.cinemablend.com/games/GTA-IV-iCEnhancer-3-0-Creator-Takes-Time-Off-Due-Trolls-Haters-66450.html
These kind of stories are everywhere, and that's just the ones that make it to the news. I think that goes to show how rampant the problem is. Trolling seems to be everywhere. I just didn't realise how bad the internet can make people's behaviour. There is something about the anonymity and relative impunity of the internet that turns in to a wildfire the smouldering embers of repressed rage and hatred lurking in the kinds of people who troll.
But giving air time to trolls is not what this post is about. This post is about never letting trolls win. If I had let the trolls get the best of me I would never have been able to build the world's largest online sword museum. Trolls hounded me every step of the way via abusive posts and emails. My solution was to give them as good as they get. Checking through IP addresses I often found that certain trolls were using multiple accounts to pretend to generate consensus; I mention this because it goes to show that the kind of person who would try to bully other people through the internet is really a wretched and sick little thing. If you take a good look at some of the notorious troll's lairs in the sword world, for example Sword Loser's Guide, looking in on them as an outsider you can really see trolling for what it is; and that is no better than the kind of ape-boy behaviour you see in school yards from the worst kinds of students... often too, as is the case with Sword Loser's Guide, the forums are moderated by people who are themselves trolls.
The thing you realise as you get older too is that bullies are usually motivated by two things: jealousy and a dislike about others what they fail to see about themselves. Why would a normal, healthy individual take it upon themselves to give a hard time to someone quietly going about building a resource like Sword-Site? The answer is the trolls are too lazy or stupid to get their act together to do something constructive with their own lives. I realise this, I only wish more people who have been trolled realised it too.
I hate to see news articles about people giving up on this or that because of trolling. You know what? Fuck trolls. I am determined to win everytime. I hope by sharing my experience, and by others doing the same, in time we see less news articles about trolling. I hope that as the world's cultures evolve to deal with the advent of the internet and that we develop cultures that are resilient to trolling, that can see trolling for what is, and not to take trolling to heart.
