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troutman · 02-13-2015, 08:49 AM

Thank you OP for this timely topic. It is something I have been reading and thinking about.

For some reason, women especially seem to be the targets of hateful trolling. I know a number of women that have deleted their profiles because of unwanted or hostile attention (from men and women). I can only imagine the hateful messages Danielle Smith received. I'm not her biggest fan, but no one deserves personal, sexist and abusive attacks. Vani Hari (the Food Babe) is a quack, but does not deserve the hateful messages she receives:

http://foodbabe.com/2014/12/06/food-babe-critics/

Instead of focusing on the issues at hand I’ve raised about the food industry, their go-to criticisms are ad hominem personal attacks: they’ve attacked me, as a woman, in ways they’d never attack my male colleagues. I am personally being subjected to hate speech, harassment and cyber-bullying on a daily basis. I won’t dignify these immature, and often misogynist, remarks with a response. Here are a few examples of the disturbing and graphic recent remarks. Warning: These are extremely offensive.

Here is the story of a female blogger that turned the tables on her troll:

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2...oll-lindy-west

There’s a term for this brand of gratuitous online cruelty: we call it internet trolling. Trolling is recreational abuse – usually anonymous – intended to waste the subject’s time or get a rise out of them or frustrate or frighten them into silence. Sometimes it’s relatively innocuous (like asking contrarian questions just to start an argument) or juvenile (like making fun of my weight or my intelligence), but – particularly when the subject is a young woman – it frequently crosses the line into bona fide, dangerous stalking and harassment.

And even “innocuous” harassment, when it’s coming at you en masse from hundreds or even thousands of users a day, stops feeling innocuous very quickly. It’s a silencing tactic. The message is: you are outnumbered. The message is: we’ll stop when you’re gone. The volume and intensity of harassment is vastly magnified for women of colour and trans women and disabled women and fat women and sex workers and other intersecting identities. Who gets trolled has a direct impact on who gets to talk; in my personal experience, the fiercest trolling has come from traditionally white, male-dominated communities (comedy, video games, atheism) whose members would like to keep it that way.

And the troll apologized:

I have e-mailed you through 2 other gmail accounts just to send you idiotic insults.
I apologize for that.
I created the PaulWestDunzo@gmail.com account & Twitter account. (I have deleted both.)
I can’t say sorry enough.
It was the lowest thing I had ever done. When you included it in your latest Jezebel article it finally hit me. There is a living, breathing human being who is reading this ####. I am attacking someone who never harmed me in any way. And for no reason whatsoever.
I’m done being a troll.
Again I apologize.

I'm sure I have been rude in the past, but now I pause to consider what I'm saying before I click "reply". Why can't we communicate in the same way we would to people who are across the table from us?

02-13-2015, 08:49 AM	#7
troutman Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Crowsnest Pass Exp:	Thank you OP for this timely topic. It is something I have been reading and thinking about. For some reason, women especially seem to be the targets of hateful trolling. I know a number of women that have deleted their profiles because of unwanted or hostile attention (from men and women). I can only imagine the hateful messages Danielle Smith received. I'm not her biggest fan, but no one deserves personal, sexist and abusive attacks. Vani Hari (the Food Babe) is a quack, but does not deserve the hateful messages she receives: http://foodbabe.com/2014/12/06/food-babe-critics/ Instead of focusing on the issues at hand I’ve raised about the food industry, their go-to criticisms are ad hominem personal attacks: they’ve attacked me, as a woman, in ways they’d never attack my male colleagues. I am personally being subjected to hate speech, harassment and cyber-bullying on a daily basis. I won’t dignify these immature, and often misogynist, remarks with a response. Here are a few examples of the disturbing and graphic recent remarks. Warning: These are extremely offensive. Here is the story of a female blogger that turned the tables on her troll: http://www.theguardian.com/society/2...oll-lindy-west There’s a term for this brand of gratuitous online cruelty: we call it internet trolling. Trolling is recreational abuse – usually anonymous – intended to waste the subject’s time or get a rise out of them or frustrate or frighten them into silence. Sometimes it’s relatively innocuous (like asking contrarian questions just to start an argument) or juvenile (like making fun of my weight or my intelligence), but – particularly when the subject is a young woman – it frequently crosses the line into bona fide, dangerous stalking and harassment. And even “innocuous” harassment, when it’s coming at you en masse from hundreds or even thousands of users a day, stops feeling innocuous very quickly. It’s a silencing tactic. The message is: you are outnumbered. The message is: we’ll stop when you’re gone. The volume and intensity of harassment is vastly magnified for women of colour and trans women and disabled women and fat women and sex workers and other intersecting identities. Who gets trolled has a direct impact on who gets to talk; in my personal experience, the fiercest trolling has come from traditionally white, male-dominated communities (comedy, video games, atheism) whose members would like to keep it that way. And the troll apologized: I have e-mailed you through 2 other gmail accounts just to send you idiotic insults. I apologize for that. I created the PaulWestDunzo@gmail.com account & Twitter account. (I have deleted both.) I can’t say sorry enough. It was the lowest thing I had ever done. When you included it in your latest Jezebel article it finally hit me. There is a living, breathing human being who is reading this ####. I am attacking someone who never harmed me in any way. And for no reason whatsoever. I’m done being a troll. Again I apologize. I'm sure I have been rude in the past, but now I pause to consider what I'm saying before I click "reply". Why can't we communicate in the same way we would to people who are across the table from us? Last edited by troutman; 02-13-2015 at 08:55 AM.