This Post Does Not Contain Rick Astley

In the last few classes, a new word has been introduced to many people: trolling. The definition that we were given in class was that a troll is basically someone who is a part of social media but does not outwardly use it, preferring to watch instead of participate. Now, when I heard this definition, this was my main reaction: 

Inconceivable!

As someone who admittedly spends a lot of time on the Internet, trolling means something fairly different to me. To borrow a definition from Urban Dictionary: 

Trolling is trying to get a rise out of someone. Forcing them to respond to you, either through wise-crackery, posting incorrect information, asking blatantly stupid questions, or other foolishness. However, trolling statements are never true or are ever meant to be construed as such. Nearly all trolled statements are meant to be funny to some people, so it does have some social/entertainment value.

(Wikipedia also has a fairly good definition of trolling.) The definition that we had been presented in class is something I would apply more to the word "lurking," where the only use you get out of the Internet is watching but not contributing. Lurking can be really good - in fact, lurking on a website such as Reddit, which is a social news website, is very helpful because it's a good way to learn how to be a part of the community before jumping in.

Trolling, on the other hand, is not something that people should really do. It's a good joke on occasion, sure, around friends or people that you know will understand what you mean. In fact, this is probably my favorite example of trolling. But it can certainly go too far, and often it does. Trolls set out to frustrate people, to wind them up, and people who don't realize that they're getting trolled and think they are trying to reason with an impossibly unreasonable person will ultimately probably get angry, which is what the troll wanted in the first place. 

So: Lurking? Good, especially in a new community. Trolling? Not nice.

One more thing on the topic of trolling: the infamous "troll face." Often, this face appears after a troll has revealed themselves as such. This face is basically another way of say "Ha! Got you!" It's part of a much larger set of memes online, though this is arguably the most common one. So if you see this face, you should know that you've been had.

Neener-neener.

So just be careful about what you read on the Internet, because here pranking isn't just for April Fools' Day (though the Internet on April Fools' Day is a glorious place). And I wouldn't advise saying that "oh yeah, I've just been trolling the Internet" unless you mean that you just spent your time baiting people.

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Listening to: Red by Taylor Swift
Exams/Papers So Far: 3/3
Last Movie Watched: 21 Jump Street

Don't Be Afraid of Social Media

In reading Organizations Don't Tweet, People Do (or at least the first half of it), I've come to realize that there are a few simple themes that simply keep repeating:

1. Yeah, the Internet is new - it's cool, don't be afraid to use it
2. Sure, some people are still scared, but teach them and they'll see
3. Don't be afraid to develop your voice and get your voice out there
4. It's a time for learning but don't be afraid to learn
5. Be careful about what you say - use your voice but exercise it carefully

There's a lot more in the book than just that, but those are some things that I've been prominently noticing. Because this is a time where social media is pretty freaking important, and to ignore it would actually be a shame. But just using it isn't everything, it's also important to learn how to use it properly so not only you can create a voice for yourself (point 3!) but also be able to use your voice to spread information to other people. 

I like a lot of what the author, Euan Semple, says throughout the novel. There are certainly a lot of good ideas at hand here, learning how to be yourself on the Internet while also propagating ideas for organizations and just larger ideas at large in general. There's still a lot to learn in terms of how people interact online, and that'll keep changing as more and more people start learning and social media keeps expanding. 

I'm excited to keep reading this book - while I've been a personal consumer of a lot of this media for (what I would consider) a while now, I'm excited to learn about it from not a consumer but more of a producer's point of view.

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Listening to: what sounds like somebody hacking up a lung
Exams/Papers So Far: 2/2
Last Movie Watched: Spirited Away