About 5 years ago, I gave up using the Apple platform (cost, lack of compatibility, etc) and got into the pc platform for home use. I bought an Acer computer - bottom of the range but with a good monitor and an excellent printer and I kept my Apple laptop just in case. All went well until I wanted to move photos and then all sorts of software problems cropped up.
I googled an Acer user website and found a thread on one that looked hopeful, went in and left a query. I used my name - I don't believe in hiding behind aliases - and that may have been a mistake. When I went back a couple of days later, I was amazed to find not one but 4 replies: one turned out to be very helpful and in the end helped to resolve the problem, but the other three - three! - were from trolls. The replies went along these lines:
You stupid f****** cow.
Amateurs like you shouldn't be allowed to use the internet.
Typical f****** Apple user - you deserve all you get.
Get off this site, you stupid c***.
All quite inappropriate. The site was mediated by Acer so I complained. The comments were taken down after a few days. I've no idea if any action was taken against these people and I've never used the site since.
With the latest Twitter nonsense over the wish of a few women to have women represented on Bank of England notes - note, that's all - not world domination by the mass hordes of feminazis! - I've been wondering about these trolls.
I honestly don't care if they are male or female, young or old. One who trolled Prof Mary Beard last week was an Oxbridge student who backed off when she threatened to tell his mother what he was up to - and I don't know which of these facts is the funniest. Most of the others seem to find dealing with women a bit of a challenge. Their vocabulary is limited to threatening to rape and bomb women, though when you see who they are (after they've been arrested) you have to ask if they would know how to go about either. Mostly, what they have in common are the use of certain swearwords, often American (f***wit, a**hole, etc) some of which they can't spell, and they often use a part of the female anatomy as an insult whether it's appropriate or not. Misogyny (a word I'm so unused to I've had to have 4 shots at spelling it!) may be involved - or not.
I am interested in why they get so agitated. Do they see themselves are guardians of the internet against the madness of women - or people in general? Do they have some sort of sense of entitlement that makes them think they have the right to keep the rest of us in line? Are they maladjusted, anti-social geeks with nothing else going for them? Maybe we need some research. But meanwhile, people who want to use the internet and Twitter unmolested need protection, so perhaps it's time to abandon anonymity: if you want your opinion heard, you should be prepared to be identified.
What does everybody else think?
No comments:
Post a Comment