Hello February

When I first thought about doing something of an analysis of flaming, trolling and other forms of misbehavior on the internet, I had to figure out what kind of sites or sources I’d have to read. The primary “author” I look to would be all of you, dear readers. Whether it’s a thoughtful, well organized statement or even a sharp, on-the-spot retort, practically anything anyone says in response to any kind of aggression on the internet is fair game. Firsthand accounts of being victimized on the internet by voracious trolls and flamers are great sources from which I can pull quotes from and analyze responses. If I didn’t mention it in the previous post, then I’ll put a little bit of psychology to selected responses to trolling and internet misbehavior. If, by doing this, I can shed a little light on the some of the mysterious questions I put in the previous post, then all the better to fill my blog up :3

Another source I’ll happily pull and respond from are the archives from what I consider to be the most comprehensive, truthful and brutal sources of internet history ever: ED. The Encyclopedia Dramatica is a wiki-type site where users put up all sorts of content. It is NOT SAFE FOR WORK and likely not safe for reading consumption period. The site is (in)famous for detailing the exploits of Anonymous, a collective existence of internet denizens along with detailing many of the memes that are, have been and could come to existence. They also provide a type of “perpetrator’s point of view,” providing readers with tremendously detailed accounts.

Other people have opinions on my topic, so it follows that there are probably other blogs. Duh. The general category of blogs I’ll be looking to for content and response would be tech related blogs and their comments.

Mathew Ingram is a writer for the GigaOm blog network, focusing on internet media. On one occasion he actually did blog about trolling, or at least the kind that I would like to talk about here. In that article, he examined this post by the New York Times and reacted to it. Duh. At first glance, the “why” to the way he reacted was because it really hit home to the subject of his work as a professional blogger. When someone criticizes another’s lifestyle, they’ll take up a defensive stance and rush to retort. On the internet, it’s as easy as pulling up word and blogging about it. However, it’s a natural response and a valid one in this case: Ingram was presented with a possible stereotypical statement about blogging and wished to give his own insight. As he said himself, the best way to get the attention of bloggers is by mentioning blogging; which brings me to the first point of the blog ever:

One reason we put out controversial statements on the internet is to get a response; it’s a matter of how rewarding (read: Hilarious) those reactions are that leads us to keep it up.

Shifting gears, The Busybody is a religious themed blog that actually did a great post on internet flaming, harkening it back to older, more dated methods of argument. It also goes on to suggest that Jesus was probably the biggest troll in that side of the Mediterranean in his time, but that’s for a different blog post.

These types of posts, which detail the how into internet trolling, flaming and misbehaving, are entirely relevant to my little analysis as they can provide a key clue as to what kind of reaction a flamer was looking for. I’d say it’s safe to assume that posts regarding flaming are reactionary, so a large variety of authors will show up on my blog. More to come.