Truth About Trolling
Trolling and hate speech across the internet are being talked about more than any other time in our history. Everyone has seen examples of this on the web at one point or another, myself included, and it seems as though it is becoming more frequent. However, many people are unaware of this, what the term “trolling” actually means, and how to identify it. This topic is very important for internet users to be aware of, so that when they are online, they are aware of what they are reading and posting, the possible bias behind it, and the damage that can be caused by putting it out for all of their friends and family to see.
When researching the topic of trolling and hate speech this week, there were several things that surprised me. One thing that I was surprisingly unaware of was the actually definition of the term “trolling”, and what it looks like. Luckily, an article from theconversation.com by author Evita March made it much more clear. She starts by saying that many people, including myself, referred to trolling as just a way of spreading hate, bullying, negativity. It is common to think of trolling in this sense nowadays, but it did not start off that way. “Trolling” was originally referred to as a way to create entertainment, and seen as more “mischievous and comical”. Now, it is normally tied back into comments of malicious intent, used to destroy or bring down other users. March makes it clear that actually, both of these are correct. Simply, this term needs to be broken down into two different forms, “kudos trolling”, which was intended to be harmless and humorous, and “flame trolling”, which was intended to be abusive. Without these differentiations, March states “Continuing to use the term trolling, a term that initially described a behavior that was not intended to harm, could have serious consequences for managing and preventing the behavior.” I think that this thought is extremely important to note, as it was only brought to my attention after reading this article. Using the term “trolling” within both of these connotations can cause damage, by either normalizing hate speech or downplaying abusive behavior.
Another thing that has been brought to my attention throughout these readings is the simplest of actions that can be taken in order to make sure that trolling and bias is not occurring within the sources you are using for research. I frequently just assume that the sources I am using when doing research are credible, when that can many times be false. By watching videos from Mike Caulfield, Director of Blended and Networked Learning at Washington State University Vancouver, I learned of just 3 simple steps that I can take in order to check my sources credibility. He says that to check your sources, all you need to do is “1. Investigate the source, 2. Find the original source, 3. Look for trusted work.” These can be done by just doing simple internet searches, using wikipedia or other fact checking websites. I feel as though if other people were aware of these steps, that credible information will start to be shared more frequently, and we can start to stop the spread false/biased information. He presented the information in his videos very clearly, and they were very easy to follow, so that much of the general population could follow these steps as well.
Trolling and hate speech are taking place on many of the popular social media sites that we use everyday. I decided to look into one of my personal favorites, instagram, and see what steps they are taking to put a stop to these harmful actions. I also took the time to check my sources using the steps given to me by Mike Caulfield, to make sure that my research was correct. One of the trusted news sources that I found that had an article on the subject was npr.com, which did indeed confirm that instagram and facebook, both overseen by the same company, do have an extreme problem with growing numbers of trolling and hate speech. However, both of the companies websites have also released articles on the steps that they are taking to control this, such as banning certain language, flagging potential false information, and adding certain options for reporting certain posts. I think that this is a good step to stopping these negative actions from happening.
Trolling, hate speech, and fake news are unfortunate common occurrences on the internet. However, with just a little bit more education on what this looks like and how to stop it, it will start to become less frequent. These actions made by users of the internet, along with support of these popular social media/news outlets, will drastically lower the number of these occurrences, and result in an overall more positive internet experience for all users.
