How do the actions of members of communities like 4chan.or and SomethingAwful.com, and their creation of griefing/trolling groups like anonymous and Nigra, critique how we spend our time online (playing WoW, chatting on Habbo, building a house on Second Life)?What are the goals of their behavior, if any? How has this behavior evolved as a branch of hacker culture, and should we be concerned?
Possibly Relevant Posts:
- Doing it for the “lulz” – Griefers, 4Chan, and Taking the Internet Seriously (9) | Elisa Verna
- Wait, Did 4chan Just Enlighten Me? I Feel Dirty. (13) | Elisa Verna
- SRSLY!?!?!?!? Online griefing, Internet Commentary, and Cyber-Bullying. (2) | Elisa Verna
4 Comments
That’s not a question. That’s a preassumption. You are not questioning whether they help us… You’re claiming they are. I think challenging yourself with a question will help you defuse your preassumptions and biases that involve your obvious fascination with 4chan.
There isn’t even enough evidence to make a strong argument that griefers help cyberspace. There is one situation in which they did something somewhat positive, and even that can be debatable. If you think I have this presumption, perhaps I should do something else.
You shouldn’t do something else. I’m just raising a concern, as long as you keep it in the back of your head that’s fine. A possible way to reframe your title as a question (and by that make it more useful for continuing your research) is this (for example): “Is there something to be learned from griefers and trolls about online communities?”
are you getting where I’m aiming with this?
I’ve had issues with griefers everywhere I go and now I believe there is little difference between my life outside, and my posts on 4Chan. Perhaps my short time on this little blue marble have jaded me… Still, I find nothing helpful about griefers. I am also of the belief that most trolls are in fact young white males. Though one troll identified herself as female, thus the use of the verbatim “Most”.
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[...] the beginning of my second travelogue, I defined online griefers, discussed where they come from (4chan and [...]