Right. You're talking about death threats, rape threats, doxing, "go kill yourself" messages, and other similar tactics. That is no longer merely being disruptive. Those behaviors unquestionably cross the line and are definitely trolling of the worst kind.
Thanks for the ref to Whitney Phillips' monograph. ps: my credit card says "hello." ;)
I scanned the monograph's ToC while nodding vigorously at how she breaks down the history into three periods with the years (2003-07, 2008-11, 2012-present) as it maps closely to my pet historical theories/explanations so now I am curious to read it to see how Phillips' ideas intersect with other ideas.
All that said, I am still on the fence regarding whether all people who engage in this definition of trolling are in attack mode or if some are in a highly vitriolic defense mode, and if that distinction can be drawn based on how their perceive their situation. And just because someone is psychologically in defense mode does not mean that their actions are justified, so I make this distinction purely to understand why they are motivated and **not** to justify or excuse their actions.
...and now I need to wait until Wednesday for that amazon package to arrive.
Edited to add: just started reading a review of Phillips' monograph and the reviewer says that Phillips makes the distinction between online bullying vs “the self-identifying, subcultural troll." So, using Phillips' definition (second hand here) I completely agree with you that she is talking about trolling as an attack mode subculture.
So, I will restate what I said above to adopt this use of language: there are people who are engaging in defense-mode cyberbullying and people engaging in attack mode trolling / cyberbullying. When the defense-mode cyberbullying escalates, it appears identical to the tactics used by trolls.
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timeasmymeasure
Re: Still chewing on your ramble
Date: 2016-10-10 02:16 am (UTC)Thanks for the ref to Whitney Phillips' monograph. ps: my credit card says "hello." ;)
I scanned the monograph's ToC while nodding vigorously at how she breaks down the history into three periods with the years (2003-07, 2008-11, 2012-present) as it maps closely to my pet historical theories/explanations so now I am curious to read it to see how Phillips' ideas intersect with other ideas.
All that said, I am still on the fence regarding whether all people who engage in this definition of trolling are in attack mode or if some are in a highly vitriolic defense mode, and if that distinction can be drawn based on how their perceive their situation. And just because someone is psychologically in defense mode does not mean that their actions are justified, so I make this distinction purely to understand why they are motivated and **not** to justify or excuse their actions.
...and now I need to wait until Wednesday for that amazon package to arrive.
Edited to add: just started reading a review of Phillips' monograph and the reviewer says that Phillips makes the distinction between online bullying vs “the self-identifying, subcultural troll." So, using Phillips' definition (second hand here) I completely agree with you that she is talking about trolling as an attack mode subculture.
So, I will restate what I said above to adopt this use of language: there are people who are engaging in defense-mode cyberbullying and people engaging in attack mode trolling / cyberbullying. When the defense-mode cyberbullying escalates, it appears identical to the tactics used by trolls.