The trolls are among us

[Blink]

This is a very long article, but one I found very interesting. A glimpse into the strange life of people who live to troll on the internet.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/03/magaz ... ref=slogin

[dissonance]

This forum is called Serious Discussion, just in case you had forgotten. - Blink

[The Wanderer]

That's sad that people actually phoned the parents of the deceased guy and did prank calls to them. Childish acts like that make me lose faith in humanity...

[Mephasto]

yup.. people like that should be thrown into furnace, atleast that would help little that guys idea how to remove 4 billion people from earth.

[Sorrow]

Jeez, that weev guy has some serious connections and stuff... "the organization", rolls royce and a driver? I dunno what's true and what not but it feels kind of sectarian...
"Destroying bloggers?" okay I agree lol, but that whole story feels a bit freaky.

I bet these people are psychopaths.

[AndyMacK]

Nah, probly Sociopaths.

And this is one of the reasons I never go to 4chan(or the like).

[Cunnah]

In principle I agree with some forms of trolling, the example of the list of men who applied for an abusive relationship cannot be argued as a maliscious attack it merely opened to door for them to put themselves in it. However it needs barriers, to quote the manic street preachers who probably quoted someone else, "a slave begins by demanding justice and ends by wanting to wear a crown". You might start with good intentions but without set limits you become greatest threat to the freedom of speach. For example the eplieptic attacks was just plain irresponsible. However i don't believe that people can be wholey demonised for pushing people to suicide, that is more a social problem from society as a whole and perhaps a lack of education. People are given the internet and not told how to act on it, some people would enhance their understanding by being told the two ultimate truths of the internet 99.9999999% of it is BS or trivual unimportant material. and 100% of the internet is open to public scrutany weather you intend it to be or not.

For a reasonably web savy person like you and I will most likely understand it but the internet is becoming increasingly easy to access for those of us who can barely turn on a computer. Its on Wii, mobile phones, laptops, computers, TV's, Digital recievers and increasingly comes as standard in some flats. So Trolling to show the foibles of a person or group of people is one thing but it requires boundaries to allow for those who might treat the internet as they would treat a letter or a face to face conversation.

[Enraged]

Trolls are always bad, but through either direct action or an indirect series of events, the end result which may not occur immediately afterwards is usually considered "profit." I know this isn't a direct example, but firewalls; We wouldn't have or need them if there wasn't a threat out there. Many new people that join the internet without knowing what they're jumping into don't even know what they are until the day they're computer's hard drive gets blanked and their OS goes missing/breaks. They then venture onwards to ask questions and find answers on how they can prevent it from happening again.

Humantiy has always failed to act until it is too late. Alongside fear it is our greatest enemy. As qouted from Sid Mier's Civ which qouted it from somewhere else: "It is from their friends, not their enemies, that cities learn the lesson of building high walls."

I consider the line to be at the point where you start stealing credit card details, and trust me when I say it's a lot easier then you'd think. (The reason for the punishment for doing so being as high as it is, not just to protect the customers, but to try and scare potential criminals from doing so.) In the case of the pathetic girl who decided to commit suicide, although it is sad, it would possibly have happened anyways without the onslaught of trolls, but bullies in real life, or whatever else goes along with it.

By the way, I believe that the one who went on about there being a "Messiah" and being part of an organization was full of it. It sounds like something ripped right out of some 1/5 star rated American over dramatised film.

I do believe however, that we do need to cut down the human population. There's this character in this incredible book called "World War Z," but I've forgotten the characters name. Either way, he comes up with these plans on solving various crysis'. If he means a Messiah as in an intelligent person to lead us to a solution, I can follow that. If he believes in some Jesus Christ equivalent of a Messiah, then quite frankly hopefully he'll be part of that 4/5million that get killed off.

[Shr3d]

Nah, probly Sociopaths.

And this is one of the reasons I never go to 4chan(or the like).

I went to 4chan a few times (less than 10 in total I'd say), they have some funny gif's on /b/, I just grab those and go away. It's really annoying having to see stupid meme's, bestiality, porn non stop and some freaky shit when I just came for humour or "lulz" as they called it. I haven't been there for a while now, it's just not worth it, too many jerks.

[Fearian]

Jeez, that weev guy has some serious connections and stuff... "the organization", rolls royce and a driver? I dunno what's true and what not but it feels kind of sectarian...
"Destroying bloggers?" okay I agree lol, but that whole story feels a bit freaky.

I bet these people are psychopaths.

He just got back from staying in some better than 5 star hotel in india where a bunch of rich people gave him a few million to invest and make money. The guys live journal reads like a doomsday book that takes reservations, and he seems totally detached from normal people. its insane.

Theres a great video of him at TOORcon where him and a wigger hacker friend are giving a talk where they explain their favorite security breaches in various browsers and programs, then announce their special guest, a security expert from firefox who has just looks dumbfounded at all the exploits they just showed him in his baby.

of course, it was just trolling and the exploits where a joke in the end. but not after mozilla spent weeks trying to assure people firefox was fine.

[ad_hominem]

Interesting read - I've touched on some of this stuff before, but never read extensively about the subject of Trolls.

[ghost12332]

Jeez, that weev guy has some serious connections and stuff... "the organization", rolls royce and a driver? I dunno what's true and what not but it feels kind of sectarian...
"Destroying bloggers?" okay I agree lol, but that whole story feels a bit freaky.

I bet these people are psychopaths.

He just got back from staying in some better than 5 star hotel in india where a bunch of rich people gave him a few million to invest and make money. The guys live journal reads like a doomsday book that takes reservations, and he seems totally detached from normal people. its insane.

Theres a great video of him at TOORcon where him and a wigger hacker friend are giving a talk where they explain their favorite security breaches in various browsers and programs, then announce their special guest, a security expert from firefox who has just looks dumbfounded at all the exploits they just showed him in his baby.

of course, it was just trolling and the exploits where a joke in the end. but not after mozilla spent weeks trying to assure people firefox was fine.

First off, trolling is sad, and troller's should be shot. There are always going to be gullible people, end of story.

Also, that video actually sounds pretty funny. Got any links?

[theblahman]

Good read, thanks Blink.

I went to 4chan once... got "Man Train"-d and I'll never go back.

[Mephasto]

there is some good and funny stuff in 4chan also, but mostly its uter crap and not worth visiting. i visit it really rarely myself.. but couple of my friends are using it daily (god knows why..) and post some good stuff they find into IRC then.

[Fearian]

Also, that video actually sounds pretty funny. Got any links?

Here should work

Its a bit of a slog to get through - especially if, like me, you can only barely grasp what hes talking about.