Trolls of the 21st Century
The definition of a troll has a different meaning today than it may have had many centuries ago. A troll today is someone who is looking to incite a certain reaction from someone by saying or posting something controversial. They may not actually believe this controversial thing, instead they are just looking to get someone else worked up over nothing. When it is all said and done, cyberabuse would be a much better term for what a troll does online. This is because there is no repercussions for their actions and it only hurts the person they are targeting. This is an abuseful relationship online, therefore it is cyberabuse. Another lesson I learned this week is that the troll does not just hurt the one person. They can harm the entire culture created online. I have been a part of some awesome cultures over the past decade and I will be the first person to say that a couple bad apples can ruin the culture for everyone. Trolls have such a chain reaction on everything they post that it could completely ruin a social media platform if it is not taken care of. That is why platforms such as Twitter and Instagram among others are working around the clock to prevent these trolling incidents to happen.
In my own personal experience, I have been the victim of many different hostile environments online. As a collegiate athlete, the general public does not seem to like you very much when you do not have success as a team. This is a very average mindset to have as a human, but I get it. It is our job to win, and so we must work harder to get better to ensure such a thing happens. However people want results yesterday, and so they will let it be known online and many people do not hold back their hurtful opinions. It is not a huge problem as we are used to it, it does not bother us much because we already critique ourselves hard enough. Some people want to invoke a response, and some athletes give them one. Other times they simply want to hurt your feelings. My point is that people really do not care for others online when it comes to the sports world. All that matters is the result to them, not the process in which that result came about.
In the link above, it explains how Twitter is working to limit trolls and hateful comments on peoples tweets if they so please. This feature will allow you to switch on and off and receive messages and comments from people you are following or not following. That way, the only people who’s opinions matter are the people you follow and care about. If you do not follow them, you will not have to worry about their comments. They are also limiting the trolls by banning the accounts that are actively trolling or harassing someone online. This makes for a better community and culture on that specific social media platform.