Some bunch of hippies
Who lived in a squat down the road from me, once accused me of being a Conservative voting capitalist pig who would have joined the SS because I asked them if they'd mind turning the music down at 3am on a Tuesday.

Now that I live in a nicer area, I occasionally recreate the experience digitally by making common sense points on the Guardian website and reading the replies.
(SnowyTheWereRabbit the Leporid from Hell, Thu 12 Dec 2013, 21:35, 20 replies)

clicky
Love the Guardian thing - thats a whole little world there that exists in an atmosphere of trying to do the right thing and having no grasp of generally understood economics, social pressures, the scope allowable for legislation, or even human nature.

I also get frequently accused of being a Tory just for pointing out that socially useful policy has to exist in the real world and be workable.

Or called a chauvinist for pointing out that not all feminists seem actually interested in equality.
(Carpe Cyprinidae, Thu 12 Dec 2013, 22:10, closed)

do you threaten them with violence and call them "subhuman vermin"
you know, like you do on here
( The Mock TurtIe ™ --- Thinks you are a cunt, on, Thu 12 Dec 2013, 22:28, closed)

Not sure I've actually threatened anyone on here, although clearly commenting on what I might have done had I been placed in the situation another user was, crossed a line (adequate modding might have prevented the need)

As for insults, no - people on the Guardian forums might be unrealistic in their aspirations but at least the ones I choose to interact with are interested in making the world a better place. Trolls, on the other hand, set out to cause pain to strangers, spread distress, embarrass and unmask.

I stick to an old-fashioned and perhaps slightly discredited view that people exist to make the world better - and that those who explicitly go against that are something less than fully human.
(Carpe Cyprinidae, Thu 12 Dec 2013, 22:35, closed)

PROTIP: you're the problem here, "trolls" don't exist outside your head

( The Mock TurtIe ™ --- Thinks you are a cunt, on, Thu 12 Dec 2013, 22:40, closed)

You are welcome to your opinion. What I have seen fits a definition that I hold of what trolling is - I could quote examples but dont want to drag up an issue that was adequately covered in the previous QOTW and wont really benefit from re-examination

The examples in mind, to me were disgraceful.
(Carpe Cyprinidae, Thu 12 Dec 2013, 22:44, closed)

so "troll" is an arbitrary term that means whatever you say it means
I see
( The Mock TurtIe ™ --- Thinks you are a cunt, on, Thu 12 Dec 2013, 22:51, closed)

if we're going down to that level, isn't everything on the internet about how people define the words on the screen? We exist in a world where we cant read body language or tonal inflection after all...

(OK I've now managed to hamstring my own point by refusing to quote examples - but I'm sticking to that as it'd be lame not to)

g'nite..
(Carpe Cyprinidae, Thu 12 Dec 2013, 22:54, closed)

Hehe
A least this is a kmuch more reasonable and polite argument than some of the ones you can get into on there.
(SnowyTheWereRabbit the Leporid from Hell, Fri 13 Dec 2013, 0:01, closed)

it's nothing if not revealing

( The Mock TurtIe ™ --- Thinks you are a cunt, on, Fri 13 Dec 2013, 0:11, closed)

Well I've been away recently
And haven't seen whatever incident of trolling/flouncing is being referred to, so I'm not sure what's going on, really.

I enjoyed the fairly quick move to define "trolling", though. Good move.
(SnowyTheWereRabbit the Leporid from Hell, Fri 13 Dec 2013, 0:26, closed)

I'd be fascinated to learn how being a pompous, self-righteous prick with no self awareness and anger issues is making the world a better place.
I say 'fascinated'. I mean 'shut up, you unutterably dull child'.
( Dr. Shambolic je suis charlie, Fri 13 Dec 2013, 8:21, closed)

Tell me about it
Due to the number of nutters from the left, right, and various extremely specialist agendas, it's the sort of place where you can't say a thing without getting into some sort of major argument.

My favourite was when I had a 20 comment exchange with someone who thought I was a fundamentalist Christian (despite frequent denials) because I pointed out that something he'd said about The Bible, wasn't actually in the Bible.
(SnowyTheWereRabbit the Leporid from Hell, Fri 13 Dec 2013, 0:11, closed)

You both sound like self-righteous pricks here, no offense like.

( Zuowan, Fri 13 Dec 2013, 5:14, closed)

THE TRUTH, ONLINE ^^^^

( Amorous Badger NAKED BEA ARTHUR PHOTOS 4U, Fri 13 Dec 2013, 11:46, closed)

None taken. You should try the Guardian forums, you'd probably fit right in there
(Carpe Cyprinidae, Fri 13 Dec 2013, 13:50, closed)

That's ok, I find Comment Is Free to be full of self-righteous pricks bleating on about "common sense" and "human nature"
like they think arguments are won by being the most patronising man in the room, never considering the possibility that they may be even less-informed than the supposedly ignorant trolls, whose jokes they entirely fail to understand, and who they therefore assume to be pathetic children to be sternly lectured and guffawed at, the only alternative being to try communicating rather than lecturing, which would mean questioning their own prejudices and assumptions and facing up to the realisation that they are just as uninformed and ignorant as the sheep they despise, only just not as self-aware, and that just wouldn't do.

So I'll stay here, thanks.
( Zuowan, Fri 13 Dec 2013, 14:26, closed)

You raise an interesting point
I'll look out for them ;-)
(Carpe Cyprinidae, Fri 13 Dec 2013, 14:28, closed)

On a slightly more serious note
You are of course right, people who go barging in armed with facts (particularly those who only believe they are armed with facts) add little to a debate if they miss undercurrents of humour, injokes, etc

But on the flipside, when the trending reply to some point of government policy is 'They should reduce the interest rate so the government can borrow more money and achieve [target x] sooner!' what do you do with that?

The easy thing is to go along with it, have a good laugh, sock it to the evil Tories, hope its a joke of some sort and hope people are pretending not to realise that the demand for borrowing sets the interest rate which is the cost of money.

If you're more interested in a socially beneficial policy that wont crash and burn, however....
(Carpe Cyprinidae, Fri 13 Dec 2013, 15:00, closed)

My favourite t-shirt:

(eViLegion Chief Commissioner of the Scottish Lunacy Board, Fri 13 Dec 2013, 10:17, closed)

Ace!
(immadme, Sat 14 Dec 2013, 13:00, closed)