Crossing an Undefined Line

Before I began reading these articles, we had a general class discussion about trolling and I first had empathy for the people that used online anonymity to their own advantage. That doesn’t mean that I think their way of trolling is okay, but I would try and think further into why they would troll in the first place. I didn’t quite know what trolling was. I would think maybe that person has problems and trolling or going after others was their way of divulging and coping. I would also think that people that are shy in real life would use the anonymity of trolling to have a voice that they fear to reveal in person.  None of these observations make whatever those trolls say right, but I tried to empathize while not being fully aware of what a troll is, says, or does.

While reading the articles, I was disgusted of how far people would actually go to just to have an effect on a human being, someone that has feelings and emotions just like the person behind the screen. How far is too far? Yes, some types of trolls are different and not all trolls harass or cross the line (if they’re even able to recognize the line), but the types of trolls we have been talking about DO overstep boundaries and it’s up to the reader to decide how that line has been crossed and are able to feel whatever they do once they read those comments. Trolls “troll” for many different reasons- for attention, for their own amusement and the amusement of others, for a behind-a-computer-screen ego, to get a kick out of the person they’re directing their remarks to, and for so many other reasons I don’t know of because I don’t really understand the fulfillment people get out of trolling in the first place.

To some trolls, what they say to others may be innocuous to them, but that troll’s definition of a line may be unsusceptible, while the line being crossed, belonging to the reader, is of someone of vulnerability. But that person doing the trolling would never have known that right? Plus, everyone gets hate, right? They just have to deal with it because we live in a cruel world with cold-hearted people and we have to accept that and be strong, right? False.  This internet trolling, online harassment, cyber-bullying, whatever you want to call it cannot be seen on a broad spectrum, especially if it doesn’t affect just a group of people. It affects a person as an individual and that is how it should be looked at and dealt with. Just like you can’t look at rape and attach a statistic to it because it happens so often (unfortunately), it shouldn’t be taken lightly because it’s happening to that one individual with a mind, a heart, feelings, and emotions. You can’t tell that victim how to feel or how to react because it has happened and it can’t be changed. That troll has harassed, crossed the line, or said something hurtful to get a kick out of the reader, and that reader has read it, thought about it, and felt whatever discomfort that troll has caused upon them- they cannot unread it. I do give major props to Lindy West for being such a role model in how she handles the ruthless, problematic trolls she’s forced to deal with daily. She’s a strong woman with a strong mind and although she could handle threats and heartless remarks, not everyone can.