Why do some people allow themselves to be "hooked" by trolls?
Can't cite the article because I forget where I read it, but apparently anger causes the secretion of
brain chemicals that simulate a druglike "high." So maybe the flame wars feel good in a sick way.
That explains a lot about some people. It doesn't do it for me, in fact I feel soiled when somebody goads me and I get angry. Maybe it's my Buddhist leanings or my innate peaceful nature. Though I have a well of rage and anger inside of me, I prefer to release it in far more creative ways than online mutual masturbation.
I fully agree with you, Ozy. I should that think that article probable explains the trolls' motivation rather than the people who respond to them. We all know that you shouldn't feed the troll, but sometimes, on some forums , I really couldn't help it. .
It's the really clever trolls who get me:the ones who use cheap debating tactics like strawmen, or who deliberately re-write history so as to get the less alert /less knowlegeable people riled up over nothing. So they wind up with a Greek Chorus behind them, repeating whatever bit of mischief they dreamed up, sincerely believing iit's a fact. Those tactics don't seem to work so well here, or maybe they're just not used so often. But , i must confess, I find it really hard to just ignore some troll's mispronouncements once they gets that Greek chorus going, especially when it's a serious subject under discussion, and/or they are making some innocent party look really bad. That really does wind me up
. And actually , it's really hard to proceed with a discussion at all, once it gets to that point. You're either gonna effectively argue with the troll's POV (whether you're directly adressing him or not) or else get the hell out of the thread, there's no realistic middle ground. And he's won either way, hasn't he? Because often, the whole object of the game is to screw up the thread; actually getting it locked by mods is the big prize, usually...
well, hey! that's another reason why the minimal moderation here, is so great. Other forums bug me to hell when the punish the OP, rather than the troll, by locking his thread when it gets trolled. How can mods be so freaking stupid, huh?