smithreynolds's picture
smithreynolds from Spokane, WA USA is reading The writing on the wall. June 24, 2016 - 9:01am

Please read the article posted in columns under magazine written by Raine Winters and ttitled "writing on Medication". Check out the comments.

OtterMan's picture
OtterMan from New Jersey, near Philadelphia USA is reading Ringworlds Children June 27, 2016 - 1:48pm

I miss a good flame war and that's some great stuff!! Really brings out the... emotion?? Maybe not quite the right word. I really don't believe there is anythng wrong with just cutting loose and breaking out the litereary light sabers!! It's kind of cleansing in a way. 

 

Humboldt Lycanthrope's picture
Humboldt Lycanthrope from California is reading Sing, Unburied, Sing July 3, 2016 - 4:48pm

That shit was hilarious! Unbelievable that it was written in response to an article on suicide and mental health. Too much. 

You can always challenge a member to Thunderdome. That is what it is there for.

Thuggish's picture
Thuggish from Vegas is reading Day of the Jackal July 4, 2016 - 10:01am
Thuggish's picture
Thuggish from Vegas is reading Day of the Jackal July 4, 2016 - 10:01am
smithreynolds's picture
smithreynolds from Spokane, WA USA is reading The writing on the wall. July 4, 2016 - 1:31pm

@Thuggish: I Tried to go to this site. I wanted to check out the podcast. Motherboard shut me down, would not let me go there.  Happy fourth of July.   Mother board did not want a sharpened mop handle driven through her hard little heart. She's programmed to self protect..or maybe it's big brother...or god.... gsr

Thuggish's picture
Thuggish from Vegas is reading Day of the Jackal July 4, 2016 - 5:23pm

motherboard? 

the hell are you talking about?

#lost

smithreynolds's picture
smithreynolds from Spokane, WA USA is reading The writing on the wall. July 4, 2016 - 5:58pm

My computer security would not let me go to the site. That's all. One of the many mysteries of cyberspace.

Humboldt Lycanthrope's picture
Humboldt Lycanthrope from California is reading Sing, Unburied, Sing July 8, 2016 - 10:54am

@Thuggish. Those posts are truly hilarious. Such wit! Thanks for sharing.

I wonder if that is really trolling, though. Seems more like goofing around. When I think of trolls I think of people who personally attack and set out to hurt people. Real nasty shit. People who go so far as to set up fake Facebook and twitter accounts to try and publicly shame and ruin lives. 

Did you happen to catch the This American Life where this troll ruined this woman's life? And for no reason at all. 

Thuggish's picture
Thuggish from Vegas is reading Day of the Jackal July 8, 2016 - 2:07pm

^ the guy's kind of a hero of mine now ^

trolling is a term with more than one definition. perhaps urban dictionary would be a better source...

PS there's more from that guy

helpfulsnowman's picture
Community Manager
helpfulsnowman from Colorado is reading But What If We're Wrong? by Chuck Klosterman July 8, 2016 - 5:24pm

I'm mostly with Humboldt too. The way I've seen it expressed really well is that there are a couple tiers of trolling and part of the problem is that trolling used to mean one thing (fairly harmless baiting of people into an argument) and has now expanded to include actions up to ruining a person's life.

I kinda think about it like this:

Goof: someone who argues with someone online, but not to the point they're going to get all fired up. This is not mean-spirited. Even if the person is passionate about his/her point, he/she might frustrate the other parties, but doesn't resort to trying to attack the other person. Or, possibly, might poke at the other person, but in an obviously goofy, unserious manner. 

Troll: someone who will post something in order to elicit a response. Usually something inflammatory so the road to the desired response is short. A troll might piss you off or annoy you, but won't go out of their way to harm you. A troll is easily ignored by moving away from that particular discussion or not responding to them and continuing the discussion with others. It's my thinking that this term started with "trolling" as in the method of fishing where you tie on bait, cast out a line, and then slowly move your boat with the line out behind it. The troller posts something weird (bait) and trolls for fish (people who bite/reply). A troll (as defined here) won't do something like PM you mean shit, find you on Twitter to berate you, and so on. They wait for someone to bite, then take those opportunities. David Thorne wrote the book (literally) on trolling, and you can check out some of his stuff here. It would be super annoying if you were the one being trolled in this instance, but it's pretty funny to an outsider, and you can see that Thorne doesn't attack the teacher. He mostly pretends to be a dolt.

Bully: I hate that term, but there you go. A bully is out to harm you. A bully takes the argument too far within the thread, and will often move the argument to another platform or seek to do harm to you in some other way. You can't shut down a bully by just ignoring them. Where a troll is an opportunist, a bully is directed and out to get you.

L.W. Flouisa's picture
L.W. Flouisa from Tennessee is reading More Murakami July 8, 2016 - 6:43pm

^ The helpful snowman is a fantastic goofball.