11/4/2017 0 Comments Reading 10: Trolling, AnonymityFrom the readings and from your experience, what exactly is trolling? How does this behavior manifest itself and what are its causes and effects? Likewise, what is cyberbullying and how is it different from regular bullying?
Trolling is the act of "sowing discord on the internet by starting quarrels or upsetting people, by posting inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community (such as a newsgroup, forum, chat room, or blog) with the intent of provoking readers into an emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal, on-topic discussion, often for the troll's amusement." This behavior manifests itself most commonly in internet postings (on blogs or sites like Reddit or Facebook) and in comment sections of videos and articles. Cyberbullying is bullying that takes place over digital devices like cell phones, computers, and tablets., taking place through text, apps, social media, forums, gaming, shared content, and more. This often entails sending, posting, or sharing negative, harmful, false, or mean content about someone else. Cyberbullying is different from trolling in terms of intent, mostly, I believe. A true troll trolls for their own delight, to see what reactions they can arouse in people or what silly beliefs they can get the gullible to adopt. Cyberbullying is carried out with malicious intent, there being some feeling of animosity towards their target, legitimately wanting them to feel threatened, unsafe, or ostracized. What ethical or moral obligations do technology companies have in regards to preventing or suppressing online harassment (such as trolling or stalking)? I believe that technology companies have the obligation to control their products and services in a manner that doesn't allow people to use them maliciously and outside of their intended purposes. If a company's product could cause harm, then they need to do what they can to monitor it and control it appropriately. If a contractor for the government made a product that would allow law enforcement and local government to modify a streetlight for service or other usage, they'd need to go through a process of vetting who they're selling it to and be able to respond appropriately by shutting a tool down if someone was using it to cause harm or outside of the agreed terms. Guns aren't supposed to be sold to people who are mentally unfit to have them, pills aren't supposed to be given to people who don't have prescriptions. This doesn't necessarily mean that companies should prevent people from using their service without going through an authentication process (although maybe they should, but that's a conversation for a different place), but it does mean that they should be prepared to respond appropriately as needed to the problems that occur in lieu of that. What do you make of Gamergate? Is this evidence of the dangers of anonymity on the Internet or is this behavior something we simply need to tolerate in order to maintain freedom of expression? I think that it's terrible that women experience the harassment that they do on the internet, often because of nothing more than their being female and on the internet as a result of users' own personal issues. The gaming industry is one that isn't as welcoming or kind to women as it is to men, and it makes it that much more difficult for women who love to play, make, or watch video games and video game content. The continued harassment of any person, group of people is not okay, especially as long as the only grounds for that harassment is unfounded, unfair, discriminatory, or otherwise. I think that anonymity supports this type of cyberbullying in a way that wouldn't be appropriate or viable in person. Some do experience cyber bullying from those that they know, but the sheer number of those involved in harassing these women wouldn't be possible without the internet (and by extension, anonymity), as there's a big difference in the number of people willing to say those types of things to someone personally and the number willing to post an anonymous internet content towards someone they've never met (and never will). Of course, don't let this sentiment marginalize the severity or intensity of cyberbullying from a lesser number of people that one knows, nor let it marginalize the impact of tangible real-life bullying. I find it difficult to believe that the price to pay for freedom of speech (or for anything) is to tolerate unfair, unguided, uncalculated hate en masse. It's unnecessary and unproductive, and provides little tangible value. That being said, I don't doubt that some would feel less inclined to post legitimately impactful content on the internet if it was necessary that their identity was attached. One can't push for all-inclusive internet profiles for people without discussion of investing too much power in ""The Man", which makes that type of dynamic difficult and troublesome to consider. For me personally, I'm comfortable standing by all of my opinions, experiences, and sentiments, and I wouldn't mind such a system. I could see how others may feel differently, even despite not having opinions to hide from or be ashamed of. Additionally, while I could see the removal of anonymity making it more difficult for people to continue to cyberbully minority groups or people, that same removal of anonymity would result in those same groups and people being exposed to the rest of those whose interests may conflict with theirs. Is cyberbullying a major problem on the Internet? Do people, especially children, need special protection from harassment or should they just "deal with it"? I think it definitely is a major problem. It's difficult to watch any Youtube video with more than even a couple hundred views or less before you see comments that unfairly judge or attack the content creator or those who otherwise appear in the videos (or even just someone else in the comment section). On large shared posts on Facebook, one may see the same, especially if its a post about a hot topic like politics or police brutality. As said in the Imminent Death of the Troll, some problems can't be solved through system design alone, but rather require social change. "Just deal with it" is a response, and a legitimate one in my opinion, although it isn't a solution by any means, nor is it close to it. I think that people (and parents for their children) need to understand the landscape of the internet, as to know what the possibilities for personal harm are as well as how to deal with certain events or communications, should they occur. I think that there's a severe lack of care that goes into this that maybe should warrant more attention. Is trolling a major problem on the Internet? What is your approach to handling trolls? Are you a troll?!?!? I think that most trolling isn't a big deal, especially when carried out between two more intelligent parties who are tech or internet savvy, as one party recognizes what the other is doing and can take the communication for what it's worth. The main problem is when one doesn't understand what trolling is, effectively. If you're the one attempting to troll and you don't do it in an appropriate way, you're doing something that isn't trolling and maybe is closer to cyber bullying (or just being an asshole, in general). If you're being trolled but don't understand trolling (or don't recognize this instance as trolling), then you're going to misconstrue what's being said and waste time and energy responding to it. I think it's very important to try and refrain from feeding the trolls. Like I said above, it's primarily done in an attempt to get a rise out of you, and once they see that they're not going to get a valuable rise out of you (or that they can get more from somewhere else), then they'll leave you alone, which I prefer. I'm definitely not a troll, although I have been known to engage in trolling from time to time when I identify someone who has some glaring issue (blatant overconfidence or ignorance, usually). I'm a conservative, non-confrontational person, so if I went through the effort of trying to troll someone, it was probably warranted and worth it. Are "real name" policies useful or harmful in combating online abuse? Do you use services that require you to use your real name? Why or why not? See the above discussion. Basically, I'm not sure. I'd be down for it, but I see the issues they present for others. I do use some services that require that because the service that they provide to me is worth exchanging that information for (and I trust them to protect it appropriately). Finally, is anonymity on the Internet a blessing or a curse? Is the Internet itself a platform for useful and fruitful discussion or is it a wasteland of memes and trolls? What good can come out of an online dialogue? I personally think that anonymity on the internet is a curse more than it is a blessing. The lack of anonymity could make it more difficult to engage in certain types of discussions (or activities) than it does currently, and I feel it could make it a difficult place to voice and advocate certain less-popular agendas or sentiments. That being said, a lot of the value of the internet (online communication, shopping, content creation and sharing) would be primarily unaffected, and I feel that it's worth consideration of removing anonymity from the internet, even if it meant presenting some obstacles in engaging in certain parts of it. I think that the internet, as broad as it is, has room for both (and currently provides both). Even one site alone you can get both, like on Reddit or Facebook, even. I think that an online discussion allows for more uninhibited discussion and also allows for more inclusive conversation, as its easy for people to access from a lot of different places and walks of life. You'd be hard pressed to get the same level and quality of communication between two different people when they're face to face (having never met) compared to what you get when they're just names on a webpage or in a chat room.
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AuthorNikolas Dean Brooks is a current Senior at Notre Dame. This blog is for the "Ethics and Professional Issues" course under Dr. Peter Bui. Archives |