"Since I stopped reading the comments section of the sports press, I live much happier." Alberto prefers to use a fictitious name to avoid retaliation. When things get ugly and trolls take over, The only thing we have left is to turn off the screen and look the other way..Less bad we can always look out the window and observe the outside world, away from the attacks of the hordes of Twitter.Or not?
Troll, that character that represents the worst face on the Internet , also represents one of the worst versions of the human genre.Although the scientific community still works to define the phenomenon, a troll is basically , someone who posts provocative and irrelevant messages in order to annoy or generate a negative reaction in the person who reads it .Social networks are his best known field of action, but they abound in forums, blogs, newspapers and Any site that resembles the Moria mines, away from the light and protected by anonymity .
"It is very complex to talk about trolls in general and, moreover, their motivations.Why do people smoke? Why are there terrorist attacks? Why do they put pina on pizza? Current research is quite clear: a troll is because of the way it is violent, not because of the reason it does it ." Javier Jimenez, psychologist , an inveterate journalist and tweeter gives the first key: «the violence was already there before the trolls arrived».
We are already those who enter to rag, of which we bite the ones to not answer or, even, of those who have tried the trolley honeys, almost all of us have ever crossed this behavior.Now, in the times when an archetypal troll governs the most powerful nation on the planet, a new study tries to shed light on the matter; and its conclusions are a bit scary.
Is there a war and the bad guys are winning it?
The research in question, prepared by the Pew Research Center and the University of Elon, seeks answers in the online society itself.In the next decade, to what extent the Internet conversation will be marked by trolls and a generalized tone of distrust? 81% of the more than 1,500 respondents believe that the situation will be the same or worse than today.
"Until now the network has been a rare site.It was not representative at all, but as technology infiltrates into society and more people cohabit in the network, it looks more like real society," Jimenez explains: "We put our hands to the head for the 'oil' on the Internet without realizing that that kind of violence was here, between us, before the first computer ".
As with many other problems, the most visible face monopolizes the debate, while the root causes are not analyzed, at least by society in general, and yet, the future of the Internet could depend on it .
"In the future there will be legislative changes: many of them linked to how society digested this problem .But, if we get serious, what we really need are ambitious public policies that try to address the problems of violence and harassment from its roots, "adds the journalist, known in the networks as Dronte." We have to assume the problem as a gigantic social problem or we will continue trying to cover the wound with strips while we bleed out."
Trolear is human
Troll roads are inscrutable.Well, not so much.The motivations behind each individual's actions are somewhat complicated to determine.However, the Pew Research Center and Elon University study drew four recurring explanations between respondents who can help us make sense of the trol world.
Trolear is human and anonymity motivates us. The trolls have been with us since the beginning of time and the anonymity provided by the Internet drives this behavior, since the consequences of our actions.
Troll generates benefit in social networks. Perhaps the most controversial point of the study.Hatred and anger generate participation in social networks and increase the desired engagement , so that there are many online actors who, although they do not inspire trolling, do nothing to avoid it."Politics and terrorism have turned social networks into a weapon through disinformation and persuasion techniques," the study indicates.
The technology will end up proposing solutions. The development of artificial intelligence will make it possible to filter troll behaviors and moderate the conversation in the networks.An interesting reflection, since it implies the segregation and exclusion of certain behaviors of the online sphere.
Moderation has its risks. The increase in control, regulation and the fight against this type of behavior could open the door to censorship, so that the public would lose freedom of information and freedom of expression It could be threatened.
An armored Internet against trolls
There is the debate, in the limits.Up to what point is troll behavior harmful to check our freedoms.And, even more, to what extent the rules of the game are failing , created for a society that was little like the digital world.
Altimeter Group's technology specialist analyst Susan Etlinger, who collaborated on the study, points to another side of the problem: We may be creating an Internet Potemkin , referring to the battleship symbol of the Soviet revolution , where the high spheres ignored the problem they had under their feet.
"Cyber attacks, doxing (the theft of private and confidential information) and trolling will continue to exist.Meanwhile, security experts, social media networks will continue to work to protect freedom of expression and user privacy.is that, in an effort to achieve a safer Internet, we end up relegating all negative behaviors to underground channels , "explains Etlinger.
For the analyst, this solution would be the worst possible scenario: an online world that appears to be happy and safe on its surface, but hides all its problems in the depths .
"Concepts such as freedom of expression are in crisis because they were conceptualized for a world that no longer exists.If we want to maintain freedoms and rights, we have to reinvent them.Radically.Sometimes we make the mistake of thinking that the Internet will change it everything, but what is changing everything is society. The world has changed, we cannot continue in an institutional universe 300 years ago , "concludes Javier Jimenez.
With about 7,000 characters, this post only manages to clear the surface of the debate.After more than 75,000 characters, the Pew Research Center study ends without clear proposals.With 140 and a nice gif, some trolls have been able to leave Moria and get to rule Middle Earth.The world has changed, there is no doubt about that.
Images: iStock, Pixabay
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