Apr 23 - The Real Definition Of “Troll” And When You Need To Step Away From The Keyboard
By Shameem Guiliano
It’s been recently announced that Twitter has introduced new rules in order to combat abuse and trolling on the site. Abuse has increased recently, with celebrities being targeted the most. Terrorist organisations are also using Twitter to spread their ridiculous ideas and recruit new brain-washed members.
While the use of social media to promote and spread terrorist ideas should be stopped at all costs, let’s take a step back and focus on “trolling” and the mean things people say online that makes you want to reach for the Report button. First, let’s find out what trolling really means:
Trolling : “The art of deliberately, cleverly, and secretly p*ssing people off, usually via the internet...Trolling does not mean just making rude remarks.”
Full Urban Dictionary definition is right here.
So now that we know that trolling doesn’t mean saying mean things we can all stop using it to refer to just plain rude people on the internet. I get quite annoyed when people whine that someone has sent them a menacing Direct Message over Twitter. Great, just delete the message and carry on with your day. Do you know that person? If you do get off the internet and sort it out in person with the police if it’s a serious message, if not, it 100% does not affect your life in any way. Katie Hopkins (I know, but she speaks sense sometimes) recently wrote for The Huffington Post UK about how people should stop calling the police the second they disagree with something on the internet. While I’m not sure anyone in Gib has actually called the RGP over a malicious tweet, I know people have had the police involved over comments made on Facebook. Facebook is a different ball game however – real names and photos are used on the site therefore if someone makes a remark that might damage your reputation and you happen to be a politician or lawyer then you can get those comments cleared up as if it never happened. If you’re an average Joe without access to your lawyer buddies you can’t do a single thing but hit the “report” button and hope Facebook remove it. I wonder how long it will take for cease and desist letters to be issued to Gibraltarians on Twitter.
In her article, Katie Hopkins quotes a detective inspector as having told her: “people have taken offence, therefore an offence may have been committed.” I am sent offensive messages occasionally on Twitter when I voice my opinions on equality and other subjects but rather than go on a reporting marathon expecting Twitter to protect me on a social media website open to anyone, anywhere, I will delete the message, block the user myself and carry on with my day.
There’s a difference between having a healthy, well-informed debate on Facebook and Twitter and sending rude, pointless remarks to people because you don’t like what they’ve just posted. These rude remarks are easily ignored because they have no intelligent thought behind them and provoke no opinion. Those who expect social media websites to take responsibility for their feelings and watch over them to make sure they are unharmed emotionally should step away from the keyboard and live their lives.
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