Troll. It’s such a silly little word. It makes it sound like a silly little problem. A ridiculous, pot-bellied, bright-haired ’90s toy. Or a lumbering, stupid, green oaf, crouching slimily beneath a bridge. Neither one comes close to capturing the truth. But these two stereotypes are illuminating, because they accurately portray the most common ways in which our society perceives trolls. They are either seen as harmless, comical figures of fun or as nasty, mean, but ultimately dim-witted bottom-feeders, cringing away from sunlight, too stupid to do much real damage beyond giving people the
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