Personally, I have never experienced online trolling. I think this is because I am not an avid user of the internet or social media so I am not around to experience trolling. I can however, understand why trolling and online harassment is such a widespread trend and an insidious problem. There is something about the internet that gives people courage to say things they maybe wouldn't normally in face to face contact. Users of the internet can reach an international level just from their computer. This makes it so easy to be nasty to someone because it as simple as sending a tweet. The hard thing about internet harassment is that it can be anyone who's trolling. Anonymous users on the internet don't have an identity that the people can personally recognize them as. This means they can say and do whatever without backlash in their everyday life. Being anonymous online makes people brave and often time with bravery come harsh treatment and harassment. The internet is a double edged sword. The online community wants the freedom to do and say what they please but with that freedom comes trolling. Users have the freedom to say what they want but because of this trollers cant be punished by law for what they've done. If there was a way to silence online trollers the most likely possibility is that more would show up. Something so readily available like the internet means 100,000 plus users stream to any one site at a time. With so many users it seems that when a battle between one troller has ended three more trollers start to harass. It's a sad fact of life that something so awesome like the internet has to be plagued with nasty words and harassment.
-Emily Guidas
I agree. There are a lot of great things that the internet has made possible. Strangers can work together to do something that would take a tremendous amount of coordination and management to do without the internet. Unfortunately, a tool that can do a lot of good can also do a lot of harm if people choose to use it to hurt others.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with everything you're saying. I have never been a victim of online trolling either. I feel like the online community does need to set a stronger tone that trolling isn't ok, no matter who it is toward.The internet should be used as a tool and not a weapon.
ReplyDelete