Monday, December 7, 2015
Trolling Mentality
Social media changes the way we interpret posts and alters our communication skills. When we text our friends or family, we often take things out of context and read the messages differently. It is hard to see any emotion because we are reading messages off a screen. Also, we do not know what kind of tone the other person is using when talking to us. There has been times when I have misread a text, responded, then looked back and realized that I took it the wrong way. This can be the case for trolling too. Someone that is trolling without any intentions of hurting someone's feelings, can end up doing so. I could find a comment said online funny however, the person next to me might not and get completely offended. For example, my family and I recently saw a movie together and discussed what we thought the moral of the story was on the way home... All of our views were different. We aren't all going to think the same and it's totally okay. My point is, if trollers are going to troll then they need to grasp understanding of who the person is first. I don't think that trolling should be cruel but if it is going to happen then it should be lighthearted and not offensive. As viewers, we should take what the troller is saying with a grain of salt and not let it get the best of us.
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I agree with you that there are a lot of messages online that are taken the wrong way. The one who is reading doesn't know if the person is saying the words to harm others or if he/she is saying it sarcastically, but the writer who looks at the comments can also be the same. Like Lindy West who types about some very controversial stuff that people argue all day and night. She gets a lot of trolls that comment but all those trolls make her think that all the comments are trolls. So ever comment she reads is already having a bias of negativity on each one. I don't think that are trolls are mean but the ones that are take it too far.
ReplyDeleteI can actually relate to this. In person, I am super sarcastic and such an a-hole; it's easily detectable to tell when I'm messing around.
ReplyDeleteBut over the internet or phone? That's a totally different story. I can't count how many times my friends get so upset with me due to me not expressing my sarcasm.