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[–]Tom_Bombadil 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

Really??? Then why is it posted in the opinion section of the news. Seems to undermine her factual assertions.

What is that responding to in my reply?

This article is filled with hyperbole, but empty of statistics, or data. Here are some highlights:.

Internet trolls are not who I thought — they're even scarier.

the crappy fear mongering title. scary.

Some of the syndicates even have presidents and vice presidents, much like the way bikie gangs operate.

They all know each other and occasionally swap syndicates and allegiances. Sometimes the syndicates work together to achieve a certain aim — like targeting a specific victim.

syndacated allegiance-swapping corporate trolls, who network, commiserate, and scheme... sure. I'm sure that this is a true story.
she interviewed hundreds after all... it's all true.

I asked Mark for an analogy to the trolling syndicate he belongs to. "Yakuza", he replied, referring to the Japanese organised crime syndicates.

internet trolls are like the Yakuza... sure. very similar to the subtle communication nuance of Japanese organized crime. :-/
she couldn't possibly have made this up.

get ready for some real horse shit:

For Mark and others like him, it's business. They don't care who or what you are — they are just trying to find your weakest point and get an emotional reaction from you. As a rule, they attack anyone who they view as outside the paradigm of being a white male.

As a rule??!. holy crap.
this is the most absurd identity politics bullshit ever.

Although I did come across one transgender woman who was a predator troll, they are mostly a cohort of angry, white men aged 18-35 and they police discourse on the internet with themselves at the centre.

was this the same one that lives with his/her parents??

Far from quelling hate and fear of marginalised people, education can make things worse. The person who helped me understand this was Dr Heidi Beirich, head of the Hatewatch blog, which monitors the American "radical right".

"We'd like to think somebody who harbours racist views or other forms of ugly bigotry is an ogre type," she says, "or a Klansman in his hood with teeth falling out.

"But that is not the case for most of the white nationalists that we deal with.

. "A lot are probably better read than the average American.

Sounds a lot like SaidIt. :-/.

I'm reality, she probably got her ass handed to her on 4chan or Voat..

What do we do about it?

Cyberhate is a complex issue that needs a multifaceted community response. As a bare minimum, law enforcement and social media companies need to do a lot more to keep us safe.

there it is. the real reason. we're unsafe. please censor us into safety.

the entire article is completely absurd. a tissue of lies and propaganda. I could have cited each and every made-up paragraph.

Also, politicians react to this tripe.

They react to everything as long as it can get votes.

Politicians respond to their campaign donors. Not the voters. TPTB are supporting internet censorship. Silencing "trolls" will silence everyone.

Also, she looks just like me. I found a photo of you.

Great, comparing me to a pedo. To be clear, it was you who started about the appearance of that woman, I tried to make light of your strawman...

The pic of hers is staged.
Innocently sitting in her living room next to fresh cut flowers. At the table with her laptop and phone. In her yellow blouse. So vulnerable. Yet, she battles hundreds of trolls in interviews..

This photo is there to suggest this. Very similar to the pink lady and her pink persona of innocence. Both would deny the dissident voice.

the photo of you was for my own amusement. aren't you a computer sleuth for this stuff. this is a disguise, cause I didn't want to blow your cover..!

it's the creepiest picture ever. you have to admit it was a funny idea. ;-) some hilarious trolling irony.

[–]Mnemonic[S] 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

I've thought about this for a bit, I see your concerns but I think we don't share the same concept of 'trolls'.

A troll is not someone who has an opposing opinion, it's someone who uses 'meta-methods' of controlling the 'conversation':

  • Multiple accounts (classic forum-trolling, where the name came from)

  • Calling in 'friends' without arguments (Same as above, but with 'real' people).

  • Harassment IRL and Online.

  • Infiltration/undercover to blow things up (aka pretend to be 'one of the guys' and one night spam the forum with illegal content)

This https://saidit.net/s/SaidIt/comments/bzk/saiditnet_feb_4_2019_new_rule_no_upvoting/ is a troll silencing method.

Law enforcement involvement: https://krebsonsecurity.com/2019/02/bomb-threat-hoaxer-exposed-by-hacked-gaming-site/

I know the term 'trolling' has been shifted over to just 'people with different Ideas' for some groups, but the things this article describes are a thing and though it may be in normie terms and the 'troll-master Mark' might have had a ego-trip during the interview, it does sketch the way he thinks about it himself and how awful it can be to be targeted when you are a normal person who has all their info posted on their public facebook.

[–]Tom_Bombadil 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Per your description; we have the same definition of trolls.

They're basically online gangs of punk assholes who sometimes make people's lives miserable. They can be relentless in their harassment, and occasionally take things too far. The original members of anonymous are a good example of a troll group, until some whitehats commandeered the name during the Arab spring.

They are not highly organized terrorists that have a political group agenda, or organized goal. Their threat is minimal, yet maddening to the victims. Not the type of threat the articles suggests.

The article aggrandized these punks for political reasons. This crap journalism will be cited in some internet antitrolling bill/law that will be used to silence investigative journalists, or forums that openly discuss contraversial subjects.

Please consider this further, as this is written to frighten Facebook using mother's into irrational opinions.

[–]Mnemonic[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I'll regard it in the future.

I just don't read the article that way, again anti-trolling bills would be good IMHO (THOUGH! I have a hard time conceptualizing such bills in a good way and I see those bills being geared towards censorship)*.

I'm glad we agree on trolls and that we could have this exchange without trolling :)

[Yeah even that Saville pic wasn't 'real' trolling ;) and if it was, Bombadil is a bad troll, he's too bad ass to be one :p]

*EDIT: So I'm not for censorship, but in a conceptual view 'a bill to ban trolls' would be nice, I just have Very high doubts of the practical side of it as You.