Wasn't that once a term used by people shuffling around darkened public spaces in a desperate search for meaningless sex? And now, rather aptly, applied to people who bum around the net picking pointless arguments for a cheap thrill.
In a better world, never to be seen, I could have a policy of banning trolls and deleting their comments. Alas! In the prison game, there is an indistinguishable line between a strongly held though crazy opinion, and mere inflammatory trollery.
I appreciate that strong views are evoked when it comes to crime and justice, 'twill ever be so. Many of these views are ill informed, ignorant and quite childlike in their understanding. Nevertheless, the views may be sincere and should be heard here.
Banning trolls runs the risk of suppressing the mad as well as the bad, a risk I would rather not take. Readers are perceptive enough not to get drawn into the games of trolls, although mocking their sad lives and sarcastic responses should be encouraged!
Mostly, I feel quite sad for them. Their lives have so little meaning, they have nothing to contribute and find themselves trying to reach out in the most pathetic of ways - its like a child biting his sister just to get attention.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Don't feed the trolls Ben - even pointing out the pettyness and pointlessness of their existence in itself gives them the attention they desire and encourages them - the best reaction is the simplest and the most difficult: for everbody to ignore them.
ReplyDeleteHi Ben
ReplyDeleteMy name is David Allen Green and I blog at Jack of Kent. I have been asked to judge next year's Orwell Prize for blogging and I would like to encourage you to submit your blog for consideration.
Best wishes
David
Thank you Ben for not banning the bad, so as not to risk losing the mad! What is sanity anyway? I love Jesus, and they tried to write Him off as mad, along with His radical teaching of love and forgiveness.
ReplyDeleteAs far as our views on crime and justice go, I think if we start from the point of sincerity and acceptance of others, then endeavour to become better informed about the realities of their experience so as not to patronise them, we won't go far wrong.
Let's not mock trolls though, kinder by far to follow the advice of King Queen. Then hopefully they will learn from the example of the rest of us how to conduct themselves, and go on to find something more edifying to occupy their time. :)
Judge others as they judge you ben....
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you have mis-understood trolls to mean people who do not agree with your views.
ReplyDelete