Monday, March 12, 2012

Obvious Troll is Obvious

So there's a group of people on a message board discussing the armed services, and one individual happens by and adds his two-cents to the conversation. Now, his two-cents happen to be "I think everyone in the armed services is a moronic dick." Maybe he could have worded things better, maybe he's a big moron, I don't know, I don't really care. And nobody else should, either, because clearly this poster's true human face looks a little something like:

U Mad?
Right? This guy can't be serious can he? He must be trolling. He just said something negative about the armed services! His opinion doesn't line up with everybody else's. I've never seen a more obvious troll in my life!

Credit given: Source in photo.
Let me get this straight, Internet. Just because somebody doesn't agree with the popular opinion, and will continue to support their position, that makes them a Troll? Has anybody stopped for one minute to think about this? We are not mentally linked automatons. This is why wars still happen. People have different opinions. Why is it that when somebody has one you don't agree with, and will defend that unpopular opinion that they must be trolls?

Okay, yes, there are Trolls. There are actually people who have nothing better to do with their lives than cruise around the internet saying inflammatory things just to watch the ensuing shitstorm with a bag of popcorn. But not everybody who disagrees with the popular opinion is one of these people. Maybe it's because people who spend large amounts of time on the internet don't actually get out and converse with people who don't agree with them, or maybe it's because people are so fucking afraid of any individualism that they don't associate with anybody outside of their "group" of same-minded drones, but there are people in this world who have strong opinions that don't line up with yours. At all.

It is totally fair of you to be offended by the opinions of these individuals, and it is totally fair of you to wish not to associate with individuals who so strongly hold values you find offensive, but it is not fair to just assume that everybody who stands against the norm is a Troll.

It also isn't fair to call somebody who is having a difficult time even understanding your position or how to actually use the internet a Troll. We were all n00bs at some point. Not all of the morons are Trolls. Some of them really are just dumb, or in a lot of cases, ten years old and naive to the ways of the internet. Instead of vehemently accusing everybody you come across of being a Troll, maybe just ignore them until they go away. If they're a Troll, they'll get bored; if they're a kid, they'll go learn how the internet works.

tl;dr: Not everyone agrees with you. Grow up and stop bitching about "Trolls."