- What this troll ethos amounts to is the classic abuser dynamic found in many abusive relationships. An abuser’s entire goal in life is to find a reason to exert their abusive sociopathic desires onto victims while appearing to be in the right. The abuser says, “I just had to smack you because you made me so angry. Why do you do that to me?!” The internet abuser will send out a small pin prick, hoping for a response so they can justify their abuse because the social norms of the internet (Don’t Feed The Trolls) gives them license to then attack if you respond. If you don’t respond then you can almost hear the troll say, “That’s right bitch, take it.” If you do respond then you deserve their abuse because you made them react. The internet said so, so they can do it. Why did you make them abuse you by responding? It’s not the trolls fault.
To quote Bill Munny, "Deserve's got nothing to do with it." What you "deserve," what the troll "deserves" should have no bearing whatsoever on your conduct or on the conduct of others. There is no Internet Fairness Doctrine. Creatives have power. They have created. Trolls do not. They can only destroy. Most importantly, they can only destroy if they are given credibility. It's worthwhile for the creator to address any third party attempting to give a troll credibility. It is most assuredly not worthwhile for the creator to address the troll - because that gives the troll more credibility than any other move the creator can make. The rest of the discussion is facile and pointless - an arbitrary ranking of imaginary categories. This stands out, though: No, the entire point of the internet was to save time and postage stamps. Assigning some egalitarian morality to a switching protocol is to set yourself up for disappointment.In fact, the entire point of the internet is that people can respond to their criticism placing critic and subject on equal footing.
Having just commented that statement in response to the same article… I don't think Don't Feed The Trolls is about "social norms." When I say it, I'm in no way condemning the victim. I'm simply advising, "this will not make your life better." Not wrong, just probably fruitless and painful. I don't think anyone but the trolls believes that.they can justify their abuse because the social norms of the internet (Don’t Feed The Trolls)
hunting down a troll is wrong
If you do respond then you deserve their abuse
I am amused by Zed Shaw complaining about trolls. Granted, I haven't paid attention to him in years so he might have mellowed. San Francisco may be different, because there are so many tech companies there and techies are taking the blame for gentrification, but I think he underestimates how much programmers get a pass for things. I have the opposite problem, people expect to make allowances for me I don't need them to. Sometimes I find myself pretending to be more of an ass than I am just because it's expected and if I'm too polite people assume I must not really mean the things I'm saying. Other times it's really convenient when no one expects me to pay attention to business hours or 'no smoking' signs.