Nenia Campbell's Blog - Posts Tagged "the-internet"
You're Wrong: On Bias, and Trolling
I've been thinking (and with me, that's always a dangerous thing), and mostly what I've been thinking about is the rise of what I call Troll Culture. I don't mean this in the "ooh! you don't like this book/this author, you must be a butthurt dweller!" sense. No, I mean it in the sense that common courtesy and manners seem to have pretty much gone down the tubes.
Here's how conversations work in the real world.
Person A: I really like [THING].
Person B: I also really like [THING].
Person C: Really? I'm not too crazy about [THING].
Person A: What? How can you not like [THING]?
Person C: I dunno. It's just not me.
Person A & B: Oh. Okay then.
*CHANGE OF TOPIC*
Here's how conversations work on the internet.
Person A: I don't really like [THING].
Person B: How can you not like [THING]? Your parents must have dropped you on the head when you were a baby. Or else you're just jealous that you couldn't come up with something as great as [THING] yourself.
Person A: Where did you even come from?
Person D: Leave Person A alone! They have a right to their opinion!
Person C: I agree with Person B. [THING] ROCKS! YOU SUCK DONKEY DONGS. LOL. YOU'RE SO STUPID, PERSON D! AND YOU TOO PERSON A. I BET YOU TWO ARE FAT AND UGLY IRL. LOLOLOL. LOSERZ.
*conversation goes on FOREVER*
This is not okay.
But Troll Culture has become so deeply ingrained in the interwebs that a lot of people probably wouldn't bat an eye at any of that. Anonymity can be a dangerous thing. When we're anonymous, we say things we would never dream of saying in real life. Mean, hurtful things. Potentially damaging things.
Here's the thing about opinions. They're subjective. There is no universal standard for what is right and what is not.
Opinions are deeply personal, because they say a lot about us. In many instances, we define ourselves by our beliefs, by our likes and dislikes, and by those we consider our friends (or enemies).
When you attack someone for their opinion, that can be very offensive because you don't know their whole story. Maybe the individual in question has a good reason for feeling the way they do about [THING]. You don't know. You can't know. Unless you ask. (And few people do. They'd rather assume instead.)
It's presumptuous, it's egocentric, and it's mean to assume you have the right to tell someone off. Especially if they're not looking for a debate.
Reviews are not debate arenas. There are forums for that. Reviews are places for people to sing the praises of the books they like, and vent their rage out on the books that they hate.
I think it's especially disgusting when people try to mask their impotent arguments in veils of insults and nastiness. That tells me not only do you not respect my opinion, you're a boor, too, and you're trying to turn me into one by baiting me with petty ad hominems.
Fuck that. And fuck Troll Culture.
Sidenote: Troll Culture seems to walk hand in hand with Misogynist Culture and Rape Culture, and I'm going to do a post on that very soon, too, so stay tuned. :)
Here's how conversations work in the real world.
Person A: I really like [THING].
Person B: I also really like [THING].
Person C: Really? I'm not too crazy about [THING].
Person A: What? How can you not like [THING]?
Person C: I dunno. It's just not me.
Person A & B: Oh. Okay then.
*CHANGE OF TOPIC*
Here's how conversations work on the internet.
Person A: I don't really like [THING].
Person B: How can you not like [THING]? Your parents must have dropped you on the head when you were a baby. Or else you're just jealous that you couldn't come up with something as great as [THING] yourself.
Person A: Where did you even come from?
Person D: Leave Person A alone! They have a right to their opinion!
Person C: I agree with Person B. [THING] ROCKS! YOU SUCK DONKEY DONGS. LOL. YOU'RE SO STUPID, PERSON D! AND YOU TOO PERSON A. I BET YOU TWO ARE FAT AND UGLY IRL. LOLOLOL. LOSERZ.
*conversation goes on FOREVER*
This is not okay.
But Troll Culture has become so deeply ingrained in the interwebs that a lot of people probably wouldn't bat an eye at any of that. Anonymity can be a dangerous thing. When we're anonymous, we say things we would never dream of saying in real life. Mean, hurtful things. Potentially damaging things.
Here's the thing about opinions. They're subjective. There is no universal standard for what is right and what is not.
Opinions are deeply personal, because they say a lot about us. In many instances, we define ourselves by our beliefs, by our likes and dislikes, and by those we consider our friends (or enemies).
When you attack someone for their opinion, that can be very offensive because you don't know their whole story. Maybe the individual in question has a good reason for feeling the way they do about [THING]. You don't know. You can't know. Unless you ask. (And few people do. They'd rather assume instead.)
It's presumptuous, it's egocentric, and it's mean to assume you have the right to tell someone off. Especially if they're not looking for a debate.
Reviews are not debate arenas. There are forums for that. Reviews are places for people to sing the praises of the books they like, and vent their rage out on the books that they hate.
I think it's especially disgusting when people try to mask their impotent arguments in veils of insults and nastiness. That tells me not only do you not respect my opinion, you're a boor, too, and you're trying to turn me into one by baiting me with petty ad hominems.
Fuck that. And fuck Troll Culture.
Sidenote: Troll Culture seems to walk hand in hand with Misogynist Culture and Rape Culture, and I'm going to do a post on that very soon, too, so stay tuned. :)
Slut-Shaming and Rape Culture: A PSA in .GIF Form
So Tina Nicole dared me to write my slut-shaming/rape culture rant in gifs only.
Well, how did I do?
Well, how did I do?
