The first thing that comes to mind when I think of the word troll is one of those little toy monsters with the long colorful hair. Then I think of the scary and mean monsters from movies and TV shows. This is probably because as a young child I didn't have an iPad or An iPhone with many social media apps. Unlike the young children now a days. Therefore, if I was to describe a person using the word "troll", those two things would have similar characteristics. If someone is a" troll" that means that they are sneaky, mean, a liar, and I please t to be around.
Moreover, this leads into Internet trolls that now exist because of the power that comes with anonymous social media abilities. For example, an internet troll can be someone online who uses fake names on there accounts to manipulate people in a negative and deceiving way. This means that anyone who participates in social media can be harassed by these internet trolls. Personally, I do not use much social media and because of that I haven't been harassed by anyone online. Although, many teenagers and young adults do struggle with this.
Therefore, the TV show called Catfish on MTV reveals the inside stories and issues that go on with trolling. The main issue on Catfish is when someone meets online and they supposedly fall in love, but the other person isn't who they say they are. The real person reaches out to the people who run the show and they help find out who the catfish (aka troll) is. Most of the time they find the troll and the real person is hurt and confused. This show portrays the reall life effects that these internet trolls have on real people who mean no harm.
It's funny because I thought of the same thing too when someone tells me to picture a troll. You're right we grew up as children not knowing what a troll was. The reason being is the Internet was still young when we were kids so we weren't exposed to many trolls.
ReplyDeleteHi Lindsay, I really liked that you brought up Catfish, because its something many of us are familiar with. I know that being anonymous can really encourage people to go online and start trolling, but what is most shocking to me is that many people troll with their real identities. Sadly they do not care about being identified which makes it even harder to stop trolling. I think the best way to stop trolling and to avoid situations such as those that appear on Catfish is to monitor all social media comments and posts. Blocking or reporting comments obviously hasn't done enough, so there needs to be more restriction. There are many people that comment on others users' profiles jokingly, but there is a certain point when trolling becomes cyber bullying which can cause real harm. These trolls on Catfish should be considered cyber bullies because not only do they lie about there identity, but they also cause emotional damage to the people who fall for their lies. I have never been a victim of trolling either, but after reading so many articles and watching this show, I can only imagine what it is like to be harassed online and it's not fair that these trolls aren't being punished.
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