Trolls on Social Media

Hi

My friend told me yesterday that he has a fake FB account (the reason for Fake acct so he wont end up in FB jail on his real account).

He wrote mean comments (not defamatory) on current news articles. I asked him why he did that, he said that its a good excercise to let go of the frustration and let him say what in his mind freely without being label mean guy.

A good example, there is an article recently about a mother of 2 children who died after climbing over a safety fence to take a selfie. He wrote comments like natural selection, stupid and selfish, etc

My question is

  1. Your thought
  2. Have you ever been a troll
  3. And the most important question, am i as bad as him because i have the same opinion about the mother (i have zero sympathy for the selfish women who leave behind 2 children). The only difference between me and him is I dont put my thought comment on social media.

Comments

  • +14

    I dont put my thought comment on social media.

    But an OzBargain forum is fine?

    • -3

      I make 1 exceptions this time because i feel bad πŸ™„ for having mean thought.

      I want to feel sympathy for the woman, but i can't. I feel sorry for the children who will grow up without a mother.

      I kind of feel angry, because the children witness their mother died

      • +2

        Then why entertain bad thoughts?

        What you expressed in your post is what most people realised when hearing of that particular story. But why hold onto those thoughts to the point that they make you angry?

        Your troll friend is merely acting 'unconsciously' in an automatic stimulus-response mechanistic way and in some ways that is better than silence because the whole world can see what's going on behind their mask. Why don't you strive to do better?

  • +1

    1) You seemed to have posted a few posts with your thoughts (what ifs)

    Rich or Poor
    Do You Save 1 or 5?

    2) Subjective :-). How do we know you are not Trolling us ;-)

    3) Sometimes people thoughts escape their internal orbit… some people may play a computer game for release, some need to post on a public forum…

    • 2) Subjective :-). How do we know you are not Trolling us ;-)

      I am not, i just feel bad for having mean thought about her.

      There are plenty of kind comments about her on that same article, but i just can't think that way.

  • +7

    iloves troll account?

    • Quite the resemblance - common school of thought?

  • -2

    fake FB account

    Amateur

    he said that its a good excercise to let go of the frustration

    Amateur

    a mother of 2 children who died after climbing over a safety fence to take a selfie

    This was extremely amusing, even that big fence and warning sign couldnt stop her

    • here we go, this troll right here; need to learn from the master.

  • +7

    Have you ever made a mistake or done something stupid that could've turned out really badly but you were lucky and it didn't? Something you knew was wrong but you did it anyway?

    We all make bad decisions, some worse that others. It's only the ones that end up really badly that make the news etc. Nobody ever hears about the close calls.

    Don't judge her just because your mistakes haven't turned out this way.

    • Yeah like when @jv consumed all those Concrete nugget maker

      • The very definition of sh*tting bricks.

    • See also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fundamental_attribution_error

      the tendency for people to under-emphasize situational explanations for an individual's observed behavior while over-emphasizing dispositional and personality-based explanations for their behavior

      i.e. she climbed the fence because she's narcissistic and a terrible mother, but when I was there last week it was safe for me to do the same thing because I'm an excellent judge of hazards and I needed a new picture for my selling-snake-oil-on-instagram startup #hustle

  • +5

    who died after climbing over a safety fence to take a selfie.

    That does sound pretty stupid to be fair.

  • +4

    I think it’s interesting that social media has shown this side of humanity, ie allowing people to express their inner meanness anonymously and without consequence. Frankly it makes me sad that people would so insensitive about the death of another person as a form of stress relief.

    • Schadenfreude.

  • Being anonymous and hiding behind a screen allows anybody to say anything. Having a separate FB account just for being a dick is a bit of a stretch for trolling.

    he said that its a good excercise to let go of the frustration and let him say what in his mind freely without being label mean guy.

    This isn't trolling. A troll is someone who purposely says inflammatory things to provoke a response. In this case he's simply sharing his actual thoughts but doesn't want to impact his own image so hides behind a fake account.

    Everybody has those types of thoughts when reading an article like that. You think about how sad it is, how the children will be impacted, how the mother died, why was she doing what she was doing, how it could have been prevented etc. But most people wouldn't post about how the mother is in the wrong - she's already paid the ultimate price - they post condolences etc. It's part of being a good person.

    To answer #2, I am a reformed troll (Only ever posted things anonymously like on YouTube or 4chan). I now never post on social media except for in private groups where I am mainly a SJW surprisingly. I guess it's part of getting older.

    • -1

      I am a reformed troll (Only ever posted things anonymously like on YouTube or 4chan)

      because next penalty box is permanent and cant bare the agony of not being on ozb posting ur thoughts and trolling more?

      • Never actually trolled on here. A mod confirmed in a recent thread I've never had any violations against my account. I try and be a helpful member of the community.

        • oh ok…

    • -1

      SJW. LOL. And you say you're no longer a troll? Just happy telling people what to think, how to live, and silencing other points of view?

      • If you say something racist/homophobic/sexist etc I'll call it out. But I'm not out there writing blogs or telling people to vote left.

        • -1

          In whose opinion racist/sexist/homophobic? Yours? You're the arbiter of what's acceptable? And no, it is not self evident. I'm often called racist by SJW's because I think that everyone should be treated the same.

          • @Wardaddy: Would you agree that there are morally right and wrong things in the world?

            Calling someone of colour a racist slur - wrong
            Judging somebody solely by their sex - wrong
            Looking down upon somebody with a different sexual orientation than your own - wrong.

            I'm often called racist by SJW's because I think that everyone should be treated the same.

            The only reason I could see this happening is if you were saying "All lives matter" when the BLM movement was peaking a few months ago.

  • It's threads like this that make me think of this.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKppwACQ-qk

    SFW

  • +2

    Your thought

    Thought?

    Have you ever been a troll

    I deliberately say shit on the Australian subreddits just to piss people off because a lot of the other redditors there annoy me. But I don't make fake accounts to do so.

    And the most important question, am i as bad as him because i have the same opinion about the mother (i have zero sympathy for the selfish women who leave behind 2 children). The only difference between me and him is I dont put my thought comment on social media.

    I don't care about you or your opinion.

    1. Your thought
    2. Have you ever been a troll
    3. What about that lady; how stupid was she; she probably deserved it……

    I could be wrong, but I'm guessing you really want people to comment on #3

  • without being label mean guy.

    Even when it is said to his face, he could afford it fine. it just … he would feel sad.

  • +1

    On the 1st of January 2020, i made a new year resolution to be kinder and less judgemental, easy right 🀷

    Then Covid-19 came, people become meaner, I gave filthy look to someone who caugh or standing to close to me.

    I feel angry to people who dont wear mask on public transport, angry at people who selfishly break quarantine (dont even know these people)

    Too bloody hard to be kind and not judgemental

    I will be thinking of more realistic new year resolutions for 2021, like use less paper at my work 😜

  • +1
    1. Yes
    2. Yes
    3. In seriousness, you can learn more about "inner voice" (self-talk, internal monologue). It can be used in a positive, negative or neutral way. I'd argue this inner voice tells you, yourself, who "you" are, what "you" do, like or dislike, love or hate etc. These thoughts can turn into emotions and actions. Whatever you want to be, it always starts from the mind. If you want to change, slow down the inner voice. This path basically leads into meditation.
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