The Art of Trolling

The Art of Trolling

Hi, my name is Emma and I am a troll.

When I read the article from Cory Doctorow, my thoughts were: "I don't think Doctorow has ever experienced what Trolling actually is." However, I do believe the man has a point to what he is talking about. There are some really rude people that spend their time picking fights with others over (most of the time) insignificant issues. A lot of these types of people are found in political forums, or strong opinionated communities. 

Nonetheless, Doctorow has forgotten one simple rule: to always remember that there are two sides to every point. When the author discuss' "trolling," it seems to be in the most extreme case. Whereas, there are other kinds of trolls on the internet. Ones that even get paid by the forum to participate and comment on discussion boards. It is a new career.

Not all trolls are the same; just like there are good witches and bad. But right now there's a witch-hunt. A troll-hunt. Trolls are the trendy new thing for the tabloids to hate; trolls are the new paedos. 

So let me tell you about my kind of trolling, a hobby of sorts, a fun and empowering way to annoy people. Firstly, why do I do it? Why do I want to annoy people? Because annoying people is funny. Why is it funny? Maybe because I find life, and the people in it, irritating at times, so to turn the tables now. Trolling can be a great way to engage with the world, a way to regain self-esteem and happiness, or, dare I say it, a way of life. The phenomenon of trolling other people online is considered a bad thing. But, as I said, it has not always been so. Trolling was a noble cause once. Ordinary people would pull simple and innocent general ignorance type of jokes on unsuspecting newbies. There was much rejoicing and a handful of tears, but in the end, people learned through whimsical, violent allegories.
Lately, trolling has become synonymous with mass spam and viral videos, with regurgitated catch phrases and inane jokes practiced by more computer savvy against the webplebes. 

Now, how about we reverse that? I'd like to shatter this dreadful image and revitalize trolling as a noble art of studying and how to use it to boost the quality of the Internet as a whole. There's a saying: don't feed the trolls. In a way, it's true. But then, look at the whole thing from a different perspective. If online discussions are all the colours of the rainbow, trolling is mucky gray bordering on black. If quality is defined by the number of views in Youtube channels, trolling is The Rocky Horror Picture Show. You may loathe it, but you can't deny the impact. And if you pause to think for moment, you might find a speck of higher genius hidden somewhere. Now, you know what trolling is all about and how it can be used to better the world. Trolling allows you to fight the online pollution on its own terms.