Trolls and Other Degenerates

I have to admit that I sometimes can't keep up with all of the reading I like to do. I just made it to Boing Boing for the first time in over a week. During that time I missed a short blog on a New York Times' article on trolls. Explaining to the uninitiated what "troll" means isn't that difficult. It can be difficult to explain just how terrible some of these people really are.

Mattathias Schwartz peered into the twisted realm where some of the worst dregs of the troll culture reside. These guys make political trolls seem kind and understanding. At least political trolls have a good reason for their actions: They write with conviction and to combat what they perceive as a threat to their lifestyle. The brand of trolls Schwartz described only do it for the sadistic thrill.

It turns out there's some self-important clown on the Internet named Jason Fortuny. He played a dirty trick on some people once. It was not very impressive, but a dirty trick nonetheless. The Boing Boing piece reiterated a good example of Jason Fortuny's psychopathic, antisocial and highly egotistical thought process. Excerpt:

So, your only recourse is to just not be stupid and/or batnuts crazy on the Internets. If you can do that, everything will be just fine. However, just so I can be absolutely clear about this: if you escalate a war of words with a troll, you WILL lose. We know all the tricks. We have access to all the resources. We know all the laws. We're all friends with each other.

Deluded much? I almost bought into some of what he had to say about dealing with trolls, until he got to the last point. You can be very certain, Mr. Fortuny does not have a lot of friends, let alone in the back stabbing, amoral world of the Internet troll. It's really kind of sad when you read between the lines of his statements. He probably desperately craves attention and affection, and being unable to get the latter settles on being a sociopath.

I have another tactic for dealing with trolls that Mr. Fortuny didn't mention. I don't bother to ever read comments. Trolls mean less than nothing to a true writer. A writer is too busy writing to pay attention to the childlike rants of pimply adolescents, and closet victims of childhood abuse. I wish them all the best, though. There may be hope left for some of them. What's better than being a troll? Having a life (girlfriend, job, independence, money... that sort of thing).

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