Dominic Kirby

De Piero
Writing 2
12 October 2015
Trolls: They no Longer Live Under Bridges
In the Prose Edda book Skldskaparml an ancient Norse Text it states, a
troll, moon of the earth-Hrungnir, wealth sucker of the giant, destroyer of the stormsun, beloved follower of the seeress, guardian of the nafjord", swallower of the
wheel of heaven [the sun](Lindow). J.R.R Tolkien-- father of modern fantasy-describes trolls as large, dumb, poorly dressed creatures that turn to stone when in
direct sunlight. Meanwhile, Urban Dictionary defines trolls as, One who posts a
deliberately provocative message to a newsgroup or message board with the
intention of causing maximum disruption and argument. Now, if one plays a little
game of one of these things is not like the other, it becomes quite obvious that
Urban Dictionarys definition is in fact, not like the others. While the original trolls,
invented by the Vikings, are a wacky spin-off of giants, and Tolkiens trolls are
slightly less wacky eaters of hobbits(or any other source of meat), the modern troll
is a not very wacky, bored and malicious internet user. Just as there are different
types of ancient trolls rock or ice traditionally there are different types of
modern trolls. There is the personal troll, a cunning creature that roams craigslist
ads or other types of classified ads in search of unsuspecting victims to lure in with
false promises and other chicanery, only to betray them as soon as they let their
guard down. There is the inciter troll, who feeds on the souls of those who he coaxes
into an argument, either with him or with the other patrons of the site. Finally, there
are the trolls who are actually monsters. I will handle this one a bit more delicately

since it is more serious that the others. These ones demonstrate the true power that
the internet has to do evil(Ill explain better later). All these trolls have found a
niche on the internet. All they need to form a niche is a place to post, people to read
these posts, andmost importantlyanonymity. The best place to find these is in
the comments of popular videos/articles, the classified ads of the internet, and
websites that consist mostly of user-made content--image-board and bulletin board
website. These places represent a unique genre because anonymity gives these
trolls more freedom, since they have no accountability(mostly). This creates a sense
of security, which in turn leads them to satisfy their urges shamelessly. These urges
stem from what Carl Jung calls The Shadow. Its the urge to shatter the norm of
reality in a violent way, i.e. sticking a pvc pipe in the stokes of a passing biker and
smiling as they fall. Jungs theory is that we all have this Shadow(Jung) inside of
us, and I tend to agree with that. We just try to hide it. Trolling in all of it forms, is
the manifestation of this dark side of humanity, which we often desperately try to
repress. It is the price of freedom that the connectivity and anonymity of the
internet demands, and the unadulterated form of this Shadow(Jung) is displayed
on the internetthrough classified ad responses, comments to popular videos, and
in dedicated image-boards and bulletin board websites.
First, lets analyze the actual genre of comment boards, forums, and online
classified ads. Although these each can be described as their own genres, they all
fall under the umbrella genre of anonymous discussion. Ultimately, I think the latter
genre is more interesting to study, even though it is less specific. This is because, in
this case, I think that looking at these outlets individually may not shed as much
light on the core of theses genres identities. Although they each have their own
conventions and individual audiences, their true significance lies in the fact that

people from all over the world can display themselves in any way that they choose.
Yes, the purpose of a craigslist ad is much different from that of a Youtube
comment; however, rather than nitpicking the tedious conventions of each one, I
would prefer trying to display the raw power that is held within these outlets, while
analyzing the conventions of the umbrella genre. Before the internet-- more
specifically before these websites came to be-- not only was it extremely difficult to
find a community of like-minded individual, if you did, you still had to get past the
tedious hurdle of actually speaking with them in the real world. Face-to-face
interactions make people nervous, myself included. Real human interactions trap us
into the conformities of society, and if you find these rituals uncomfortable, youre
out of luck. It is hard to display your true self, let alone articulate your opinions in
the form that you envision. However, from behind a computer screen, all of this
goes away. These social pressures that imprison you in the rest of daily life melt
away when youre alone. Now this has always been true, you are wholly yourself
when you are alone. The good, the bad, and the ugly that revolve around the
precipice of your outward being all come together when youre alone. The Shadow
comes out. As long as humans have existed, this has always been true. The main
difference nowadays is that there is a public outlet for this phenomenon. We no
longer have to repress our deepest thoughts; we can share them with the world. My
sourcesclassified ads, comments, and image-board/bulletin board websites
represent the means to be unequivocally yourself. Now, the conventions of this
genre are truly interesting. Across the internet there are thousand of communities
dedicated to anything that you can imagine. Each of these communities has there
own set of convention to follow. If you want to see a hyperbolized version of these
convention, go to this website, www.4chan.org/b (NSFW, seriously it can be

disgusting), or you can go to www.reddit.com/r/4chan to see a toned down version

of these convetion(probably still NSFW but definitely less disgusting, much less).
Although the actual content of these pages is highly disturbing, the conventions of
the posts are immensely interesting. As an example, in order to say I am a 23 year
old male on 4chan, one would say,
>be me
>be 23
The be me is a common way to start a story about yourself, and the be 23
says your age. The fact that youre a male is implied by the fact that youre posting
on 4Chan in the first place. Although this is an extreme example of conventions
within each sub-genres, most anonymous websites like this have some sort of list of
rules/conventions. Look at any subreddit, each one has a list of rules clearly
displayed near the top of the page. This is a convention of most of these
anonymous online outlets. They need these set of rules in order to filter out things
that would be deemed inappropriate for the sites. Now, what is deemed
inappropriate differs wildly from site to site, but most of them draw a line
somewhere. Another convention of these outlets is having a moderator, someone
with authority to take down others posts. This is an interesting position since these
outlets are based on the freedom of speech, yet there are people whose job is to
restrict that freedom. It comes down to a practical necessity. If there was no
moderation each website would devolve in filth. 4chan has no moderator, that
should be all the evidence you need. However, an alternate way to filter posts is
giving the users the power to vote on which posts they like. This leads to posts that
fit the topic of the forum to be at the top of the page, since they have the most
votes. The flaw in this is if there is a disturbed user base, then the top posts are
going to be as disturbed as the user base (see 4chan). These are the main

conventions of the umbrella genres of anonymous internet sites: rules, moderators,

and voting systems. They serve to filter posts. Now, the audience of these outlets is
very unique. Generally, the audience is like minded individuals. This separates it
from other genres in that the purpose is to have other like-minded individuals be
interested in what you have to say. Since the audience is restricted to those that are
already interested in the main topic, the only way to garner any interest from them
is by being unique in this already unique environment. This fosters creativity by the
user, which advances the topic into an even more unique conversation. This is why I
think that this is such a cool genre. Its similar to evolution. Due to an environment
that makes it harder to pique the interest of the fellow user-- due to them already
being well versed in the topic that the website is dedicated to-- forces them to be
mutate the conversation to receive attention. Over time, this will eventually evolves
the whole website into something completely new given enough time. For those
who dont believe me: 4chan was originally made to discuss anime and manga(Im
using 4chan a lot to describes this genre since it was the first big one, and is now
the most evolved website like this on the web). This is what makes it an interesting
genre to study, this is what makes studying genres interesting in general. Watching
something simple evolve into something utterly unique and new is truly
extraordinary to see. It is one of the results of the power the internet gives us.
Unfortunately, just like everything else in the world, this power is abused.
Some peoples true nature isnt very nice. These are the trolls. These are the dark
side of this gift. In case you forgot, trolls are individuals who use the internet to
upset people. They range in severity from childish prankster to legitimately
dangerous. What unites them all is the medium they use to satisfy their urges:
anonymous, popular online website.

The least threatening and the hardest type of trolling to accomplish is

personal trolling. This is when a particularly clever and mean person replies to a
classified ad of some sortthe audience gets someones hopes up, then brutally
destroyed them. My personal favorite example is a reply to someone who was
looking for some subs and amps(for a stereo system probably). A troll responded to
the by claiming to have very cheap subs and amps, getting the buyers hope up.
The buyer wants to trade his miniature motorcycle for these amps. The troll then
asks for a picture of said motorcycle, to find out that the buyer is at work and
therefore unable to send a picture. The troll then proceeds to say that he has many
potential buyers for the subs and amps. So he then convinces the buyer to leave
work and send a picture. Once this is done, the troll responds to the picture by send
a picture of a subway sandwich and an AMP energy drink, crushing the buyers
hopes.(UndercutBush 1-12) Sorry for the shoddy explanation, heres the link to it
http://imgur.com/gallery/FpOXL7G. Highly recommended read. Its very funny and
also a perfect example of personal trolling. Trolling using this method can be more
gratifying because although you can still hide behind anonymity, theres a much
more personal level a communication between you and your victim. This is also the
boldest method of trolling; however, it is one of the least volatile forms of trolling. It
is hard to tell based on the evidence I just gave, but since this form is the most
based in reality, the reality of the situation often quells a lot of the hatred between
the two parties. Still, these troll take in innocent ad-posters and cruelly trick them,
partially ruining the sites they harass.
On the other hand, the most inflammatory species of troll is the mighty
argument-inducing troll. This is an incredibly bored and angry internet user who
wants to upset as many people as humanly possible. The most common type of

troll, this one takes many forms. The simplest type often use hate speech in hopes
that they will get a rise out of the overly PC(politically correct). This creature of the
web plays the probability game. It knows that the more people see his message, the
more people will be offended by it, and the more people will respond to it. So, it
comments on highly popular videos or articles. For example, I went on the Youtube
and watched a video about Life Hacks by Stephen Colbert. It was funny and mildly
informative, not much more you can ask of a 4-minute clip. Then I went into the
comments and found that the user CaresserDundee decided to post , Americans
need to work less, your productivity has gone up drastically since Reagan, your pay
has not. Strike, revolution, anything to wake you people up. This doesnt really
have anything to do with the video and is meant to get people angry with him. He
knows that people will watch a Colbert-based video, and therefore people will see
his comment, therefore people will be upset by it, therefore he will be happy with
himself. Another way these trolls troll, is by going to polarized websites and posting
about the polarizing topic. I know that was poorly explained, so heres an example:
on the video game IGN, it is not uncommon for people to ridiculously bash either
the playstation 4 or the xbox 1--the two competing video game consoles. The xbox
supporters are called XBots, and the playstation supporters are called awesome(I
am a playstation supporter). The IGN community has responded to these trolls by
coining the phrase, Dont feed the Troll which generally ends the trolling because
it receives the support of the community. However, some other websites arent as
resistant to these trolls and the polarizing comments can start a real argument
between users. In this case, the troll is thrilled beyond belief and can go back to his
bridge feeling accomplished. This troll affects many more people than the personal
troll, and this troll can often garner a very intense reaction from the user base.

Okay, time to get serious. I dont feel very comfortable writing about this
example. However, my paper is about trolling and the dark side of the internet, so I
feel like I need to show the worst of the worst. Ill try to handle this with grace. At
10:14 pm on Thursday, May 3rd, 2007, a three year old girl named Madeleine
McCann went missing during her vacation to Portugal. They still havent found her.
The police have looked at in from every angle and still havent come up with a
concrete theory(Rayner 1). Some of the theories inevitably accused the parents.
These theories had no real standing, but when the police reach a dead end, they
generally analyze it from every angle. A woman named Brenda Leyland made the
decision that the parents were responsible for the disappearance of their child
based on these baseless theories. From 2010 to 2014, using the twitter handle
@sweepyface, she anonymously posted over 400 hate tweets at the McCann
family(Allen 1). On September 30th, 2014, a reporter from the British news
company Sky News approached Leyland and asked her why she was posting these
tweets. Her response:Im entitled to. On October 2nd, 2014, Sky News
broadcasted their report. On October 4th, 2014, Brenda Leyland was found dead.
She overdosed on drugs in her home(Davies and Conlan 1). I dont want to use this
as a talking point for free speech vs libel/slander. In an essay about how trolling is
bad, I guess I just wanted to show the real damage that the internet can do.
There is no clean transition from this to talking about the importance of
studying genre that I can think of, so I wont try to make a transition.
We all analyze genre all the time in our daily lives. We usually just dont do it
in an academic sense. When we are watching tv and the commercials come on, the
conventions of a commercial are so drilled into us, that if one doesnt follow these
conventions we will notice. I think that that qualifies as subconscious genre

analyzation. Im sure theres lot more examples like this in our daily lives that I cant
think of as well. When analyzing a genre academically, we must look at the
audience and purpose of the piece, while considering what makes this piece a part
of the genre we put it in(context/style). However, while we analyze genres
subconsciously all the time and consciously some of the time, there is a big
difference between analyzing a genre and writing into a genre. Ultimately we study
genres to become better writers. While studying genres might not give us the
creative muse to be the next R.R. Tolkien or R.R. Martin, most of us dont want to be
professional writers in the first place. However, most of us will have to write
professionally; most careers require at least some semblance of writing. This is
where studying genres really helps us write. The true importance in studying genre
is that we learn to analyze the audience and purpose of the writing, then we can
evaluate the situation, and write a piece that both conforms to the audience and
fulfill the purpose of the assignment.
I hope that I have showed that trolling is a big, bad part of the internet
culture, anonymous online outlets are a unique and highly interesting genre to
study, and that studying genre is important to our future careers. This is the
end(The Doors).

Works Cited
"Essential Secrets of Psychotherapy: What Is the "Shadow"?" Psychology Today. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2015.
Lindow, John (2014). Trolls: An Unnatural History. London: Reaktion Books. ISBN 978-1-78023-289-8
"4chan." 4chan. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2015.
Allen, Vannessa. "Madeline McCann Troll 'sent Thousands of Hate Tweets': Divorcee Launched Diatribes
about Missing Girl's Parents' Behavior in Aftermath of Disappearance." Dailymai.com. N.p., 07 Oct. 2014.
Web. 13 Oct. 2015.

CaresserDundee. "Life Hacked." YouTube. YouTube, 12 Oct. 2015. Web. 13 Oct. 2015.
Davies, Caroline, and Tara Conlan. "Woman Killed Herself after Being Doorstepped over McCann
Trolling." The Guardian. N.p., 20 Mar. 2015. Web. 13 Oct. 2015.
Lennard, Natasha. "The Danger of Letting Monsters Pass As Internet Trolls." Vice News. N.p., 7 Oct. 2014.
Web. 13 Oct. 2015.
Murray, James. "McCann Troll Brenda Leyland Driven to Suicide by Twitter Death Threats." Express. N.p.,
12 Oct. 2014. Web. 13 Oct. 2015.
Rayner, Gordon. "Madeleine McCann Latest: Are Police Any Closer to Knowing the Truth?" The
Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group, n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2015.
Tolkien, J. R. R. The Hobbit, Or, There and Back Again. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1966. Print.
"Troll." Urban Dictionary. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2015.
UndercutBush. Imgur. N.p., 9 Sept. 2013. Web. 13 Oct. 2015.
"Video Games, Wikis, Cheats, Walkthroughs, Reviews, News & Videos - IGN." IGN. N.p., n.d. Web. 14
Oct. 2015.
Brecht, Bertolt, Willie Dixon, John Densmore, Howlin' Wolf, Robby Krieger, Ray Manzarek, Jim
Morrison, and Kurt Weill. The Doors. Elektra Records, 1988. MP3.
Ward, Victoria. "Sky News Reporter 'devastated' at Death of McCann Twitter Troll." The Telegraph.
Telegraph Media Group, n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2015.

Did Not Meet

Met Expectations

Expectations
Thesis Statement

Use of Textual Evidence

Expectations

from Genres
Use of Course Readings
Analysis

Exceeded

Organization/Structure

Attention to

Genre/Conventions and
Rhetorical Factors
Sentence-level Clarity,

Mechanics, Flow

Dom,

I want to be super-clear here: I am a *huge* fan of your writing style. Wow, it is just so unique
and fresh and interesting. Its very, very different from the vast majority of previous students
writing that Ive read, but thats OK--its cool.

That said, I need you to adhere to the conventions of this genre -- that is, a thesis-driven,
research-based argument -- much more. Your paper lacked a clear thesis statement (I wasnt
sure what you were arguing), there wasnt any specific textual evidence from the sources
themselves, and I dont believe you incorporated much/any course readings. Each one of those
three components is enormous; youve GOT to have all that.

This paper has unlimited potential and I really/truly hope you can tighten it up and convince me
with see-able evidence if/when you revise this for the portfolio.

Thanks again for the cool paper, and I hope you can appreciate my comments and where Im
coming from.

Z
7/10