I worked with juvenile hall kids a few years ago. I hadn’t been around kids that age pretty much since I was one, and it really did teach me. At that age I was doing all kinds of things and thought I was pretty much an adult, but kids that age are kids. The nature of their crime should tell you they are very confused…

I spent years working in the juvenile justice system. Anyone who thinks that a 13 year old has the same judgment therefore should be tried in the adult court knows very little about current research. Having kids tried as an adult is a political move by people who want to look tough on crime, not a move based on any…

Indeed.

Usenet just wasn’t designed for wide-open public access: worked better for a smaller more homogeneous community (i.e., the universities). Unmoderated groups in particular couldn’t survive the post-1994 spamalanche.

Pretty much the same here. I technically started with Ye Olde Mailing Lists and chatrooms but I really dug in with Usenet. Total nerd admission: My faves were Star Wars, D&D, and movies (where I witnessed the birth of IMDb, he said and stroked his hipster beard). And Star Trek, where the nerdfight over SW vs ST was a…

So, most trolls are teens who think they know it all! Then they grow to realise they don’t. So basically exactly what I accused them of! Sweet!

It's funny. I came to really enjoy the films in the last year. It wasn't until I remembered my circumstances at the time that I finally knew why I had such a problem. I had a woman in my life who was like my Padmé and my Palpatine all in one. She manipulated me to shut out all my friends and family and was verbally…

Nope for what? I was awful to Prequel fans. Now, I get grief for being a fan of them almost every day. It’s really quite awful and I feel terrible for how I treated friends and strangers.

One of the best stories, really. I never understood trolls. It’s not like I never had a disagreement online, and I have been online since 2400 baud modems and usenet. But it was never done just to piss off somebody or be cruel.

It’s definitely a little bit of both. Especially when you see the crap that goes on gaming blogs like Kotaku, or XBL/PSN, it seems like it’s real, real easy for people to hurl insults at a person when you can’t see them (and when they can’t see you).

I’m not a particular fan of the Star Wars prequels (no hate.. they are OK), but Star Wars Hater I find to be wiser than most armchair internet critics. Imagine, expectations and emotional circumstances interfering with potential enjoyment of a work!

It’s isolation not anonymity. The fact that you are separated from the person by a computer screen. Facebook, where most of the people use their real name, still has as big a problem with trolls as any site with online aliases does.

Great article. Fascinating look at what makes a certain group of people tick. Ultimately, they, like a lot of us (myself included) are simply projecting what we are feeling or experiencing inwardly. Good job!

Yeah just saying. It used to be “trolling” for replies. Harrasing, flaming, being a jerk, etc (while all forms of trolling) were the lowest forms of it simply because it they were the most OBVIOUS forms of what should be stealthy.

The preoccupation with power is interesting, depressing, and telling.

I’ve born witness to situations similar to this a handful of times, what with being from the redneck part of California. Since I’m white, other white people always do that thing where they give me a nod like, “YOU AGREE RIGHT, SISTER?” as they are spewing vile nonsense.

I understand just enough Spanish to eavesdrop effectively, and it is always the same. The Spanish speakers are talking about whatever you’d expect them to be talking about. In a pancake house, they’re talking about pancakes. In a grocery store, they’re talking about getting milk. Learn Spanish, shouty lady - it will…

Or just get the fuck out of the united states! There is no official language here, you can’t expect everyone to speak the same one.

It bums me the fuck out that when confronted with this sort of bigotry, the poor woman has to respond that she does, in fact, speak English. Like her speaking Spanish is only justified as long as she can also speak English. What’s wrong here is that some crazy bat thinks that what comes out of your mouth is any of her…

I write under male-sounding names online, and I have mixed feelings about it. Is it easier? Fuck yes. Does it make me angry how much easier it is? Fuck yes.