Let's see here. Barry posts an article about "trolling". He does this and makes a direct reference to Share. He also describes the unlimited posting (gee, how novel and revolutionary) as a an opportunity for "unlimited trolling here on FFL". What part of Barry's intention is not utterly prickish, negative, manipulative, ugly and a repetition of what he does all the time? It is the equivalent of throwing a stink bomb into a room where people are enjoying tea drunk out of fine china cups while listening to Bach in the gazebo on a summer's evening. Barry, you still need to fuck off, you wart.
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, turquoiseb <no_reply@...> wrote: > > An interesting article, especially on the eve of Unlimited Trolling here > on FFL. Ponder this during the next "Let's everybody pile on Share" > session. Bold highlighting mine. > > Are Internet Trolls the Modern Incarnation of Witch Hunters? > > > In the age of the Internet troll, there's an unfortunately predictable > cycle for what happens to women who talk about feminist issues online: > They get barraged with rape threats and harassment. For examples: see > here > <http://www.theatlanticwire.com/technology/2013/03/adria-richards-sendgr\ > ind-fired/63400/> , here > <http://www.avoiceformen.com/feminism/a-letter-to-jessica-valenti/> , > here > <http://www.dailydot.com/entertainment/e3-anita-sarkeesian-sexism-rape-v\ > iolent-threats/> and most recently, here > <http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/05/world/europe/bid-to-honor-austen-is-n\ > ot-universally-acknowledged.html?pagewanted=all> . The anonymous nature > of Twitter and comment threads allows cowards to write hateful things > to people without consequences, suggesting that this reaction is unique > to the digital age. But it's not. The Twitter rape threat is just the > 21st century incarnation of a centuries old reaction. > > Just the other day we saw the modern-day cycle play out > <http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/05/world/europe/bid-to-honor-austen-is-n\ > ot-universally-acknowledged.html?pagewanted=all> , with a > "countercampaign of online harassment" lobbed at "several high profile > women" who advocated for Jane Austen and other historical female > figures on British bank notes. The announcement that Austen would grace > the 10 pound bill resulted in Twitter rape threats by the minute > against the blogger Caroline Criado-Perez because she both advocated and > celebrated the "brilliant day for women > <https://twitter.com/TheWomensRoomUK/status/360047518198939649> ." > > The scope and nature of the hate is specific to the Internet, argues > Dr. Whitney Phillips, a media studies and digital culture researcher, > who is writing a book on trolls. "While the sort of violently sexist > bile directed at Criado-Perez definitely has precedent (and not just > precedent but precedents), it also has context," she told The Atlantic > Wire. "Not only does Twitter allow for anonymous or pseudonymous > communication, not only does it provide a forum for users to directly > interface with public figures, its social functionality encourages the > breakneck spread of information." In addition, because of the Internet, > more people have exposure to people like Criado-Perez and her story, > further amplifying the potential haters. > > But, like Phillips said, the behavior has precedence. The sexism we see > online is just a reflection of real world hatred, suggests University > of Maryland law professor Danielle Citron, who is writing a book about > cyber harassment. "We have gendered harms that we see these nudged into > cyberspace where it's much safer for perpetrators to demean," she told > The Atlantic Wire. Before, you might see acceptable sexual harassment in > the work-place, for example. And certainly journalists in particular > saw these feelings manifest in letters to the editor and hate mail > the comment threads of the analog age > <http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/08/comments-on-the-w\ > eb-engaging-readers-or-swamping-journalism/278311/> . > > Those mediums aren't as public as Twitter or a hateful blog post, > however, says Emily Bazelon, who wrote Sticks and Stones: Defeating the > Culture of Bullying and Rediscovering the Power of Character and Empathy > (which was adapted into this Atlantic feature > <http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2013/03/how-to-stop-bullies\ > /309217/> ). "It has a smear campaign aspect that would have been > harder to pull off before," she told us. There's no editor to keep the > mean comments and tweets out of the paper. > > Perhaps, a more analogous comparison is a witch hunt, suggests > anthropologist Gabriella Coleman. "For me what comes to most to mind as > an interesting parallel is the extraordinary and very public > demonization of women as witches during," she said. "They were burned in > very public ritual acts." Or, later, lynch mobs had the same effect. > What these have in common with the Internet is that they're public, > aggressive, and the people involved had a sense of disinhibition. You > feel anonymous in a big group of people singling out a witch, the lynch > mob has that, plus the added effect of a white-hood. Similarly, > talk-radio another breading ground of proto-trolling > <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-life/10208418/Twitter-abuse-Wha\ > t-women-hating-trolls-really-believe.html> gives the caller a > layer of distance because it's just the caller's voice. And, finally, > the Internet troll has the protection of the Internet, with almost full > anonymity and physical distance. > > As the troll has progressed from the IRL witch-hunter to the sad man in > his basement harassing a journalist on Twitter, he has sought out more > physical distance and protection from the victim, as it's no longer > socially acceptable (or legal!) to get together and burn a woman alive. > Gathering a large group of like-minded people to launch an Internet > harassment campaign is totally fine and accessible. So, if we use that > as a metric of progress, things have certainly improved for the > feminist. Hateful tweets are certainly preferable to death. Yay? > > From: > http://www.theatlanticwire.com/technology/2013/08/witch-hunts-lynch-mobs\ > -and-talk-radio-where-people-trolled-internet/68099/ > <http://www.theatlanticwire.com/technology/2013/08/witch-hunts-lynch-mob\ > s-and-talk-radio-where-people-trolled-internet/68099/> >
