Monday, April 30, 2007
Something I Learned the Hard Way
It seems that the concept of an Internet Troll has changed somewhat. Traditionally it's referred to someone with a harsh tone who was disruptive, jumping in randomly and affecting dialogue. That changed over time to include even regular group participants who may irregularly get out of line and become a nuisance. But this week I learned that, if you enter dialogue with a group having a differing opinion, no matter how civil the disagreement or how genuine the rhetoric, the fact that you actively engage dialog to the contrary -- this is also seen as trolling.
Trolling is when you walk into an established community, and act like you know it all--that your view is Truth® and that the regular folks who interact at the site are in need of 'education in the Truth® '. That arrogance and inability to meet the residents of a blog on their terms within the rules of that blog, is trolling.
You did it. You were called on it. You never had any intention of being one of the community. Ergo, you were labeled Troll.
For the past month plus I've been reading Street Prophets and had the genuine goal of civil dialogue on matters of importance. Street Prophets has some generally interesting content and, after having read for a while, wanted to engage the group with some alternative considerations. That was a mistaken judgement on my part.
You went there to 'save' us. Admit it. You were always the thorn, yet dismissed any and all attempts to engage you as the 'silly Left attempting to engage the Truth® and failing'. You refused to understand the premise for the site: inclusive, open and affirming, safe place for GLBT, Athiest, Pagan, all Christians of good faith, everyone with good faith. You attempted and engaged in divisive rhetoric--from the beginning of your tenure there. You never 'got it'. You never really participated in the community. You never passed out 'cookies'; you didn't engage in the Coffe Hours or Open Threads. All you did was drop inflamatory comments here and there to stir up the folks there.
It seems that, even though they are very public and open to participation (subject blogs in general), there is an unspoken rule that non-believers (in whatever the cause, whatever the blog) are not generally welcome. They may state their participant preference, but there is an unstated "Keep Out" sign. Alas, I understood too late the group-think. This made me a troll and I didn't realize the situation.
I cry Bullshit to you. You knew what SP was about before you went there. We don't make a habit of banning folks...but those who won't play by our rules get booted--and you were, after an egregious list of insulting, condescending, arrogant posts. You attacked our members, you were unable to speak without right-wing, evangelical talking points; you held no respect for our members who are Gay, Athiest, Non-Christian. You held us in contempt. Do you honestly believe we wouldn't notice? That we would put up with that?
Would you have endured Christian bashing at your own site? Why are you so afraid of those who are different than you?
A lot went on in our interactions, things that are not necessary to discuss here. But the principle is simple: Be careful out in the blogosphere. There are some really mean people out there. And from this point on I'm going to keep a safe distance and keep my tongue/keyboard under a bit more control.
Posted by Collin Brendemuehl at 10:37 PM
Street Prophets is the most open, most friendly, most affirming place I have ever found on the Net. You could have learned a lot there if you really wanted to. I'm sorry you decided we were beneath you, contemptible in our views and our politics. We are the future. We are a community that takes attacks on one or more of its members VERY seriously. We are not haters.
BUT...we sure can sense haters when they show up.
Yes. You should recognise the mean people easily. Look in the mirror.
Q.
4 comments:
Yes,
we can.
Enjoy.
My ! My, my, my, my, my ...
Q dear, you've got an infestation. Shall I alert the HazMat team at the lab ? Moatie eats eveything else, so the team is bored and would love an assignment, no matter how ... small !
<Canine-Toothy Grin>
BTW Q, I think Collin's problem is size envy. I looked at a bunch of the entries on his blog and not a one has any comments. Nada, zip, zilch, which means nobody gives a damn about reading his drivel.
While over on Street Prophets, a single Friday "Happy Hour" open thread (4-May-2007) garners 134 comments.
Poor Brenden-mewler is pissed because Pastor Dan's is a lot bigger than his. Gives a whole new meaning to shriveled fig ...
Oh crap.
You folks save all the fun stuff for when I'm offline.
I wish I'd been able to read the SP works of the most entertaining Collin.
I'm really wondering about that "we can" link in his comment. Is Collin allergic to snark? That bit seemed cooked to golden brown perfection to me...
And hey, Wolfman. Just 'cause you're a hulking brute with a hose that you could use as a belt is no reason to pick on Collin unless you've been in his pants lately and was genuinely disappointed. That kind of joking around leaves a bad taste in my mouth (talk about yer loaded comments). You get the Golden Oog award for the month.
It ain't the size of something that counts. It's what you do with it.
So don't diminish yourself by bearing grudges.
Post a Comment