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November 25, 2005
Under the Bridge
As a child, the word "trolls" meant three things: the nasty bridge resident of "The Billy-Goats Gruff," the villain of "Earnest Saves Halloween" (..why did I just share that?), and the belly-button piercing /wacky hair raising dolls.
I was surprised Gillmor would mention or pen this term in comparison to society and technology. Today, trolls deliberately provoke other web-goers by purposefully wasting another's time and energy with irrelevant or obscene postings. Personally, I find these individuals resemble gnats- they exist, although we continuously swat them away.
With all the legalities which attempt to suffocate our freedom of speech (worth insights and contributing opinions), I question why the tables aren't turned towards these trolls.
Denamarie mentioned Slashdot in her blog and presentation last week where user registration could help limit the amount of troll "attack" which occur in online forums. Yet, don't companies have the ability to delete useless comments just as we, on our news writing blogs, can? Granted, this would lead to quite a bit of work; but, I feel that it's worth it.
In the mean time, I think we should use common-sense and responsibility when responding online. They're our opinions...make them count.
Posted by BethanyHutira at November 25, 2005 09:23 PM