When did trolls/idiots online become such a big deal for everyone?

I swear, about five or so years ago, no one gave a toss about how people behaved online. Was someone a troll? Yeah, they're pathetic. Ignore their ass and block them on any forum you're on. Did someone say mean things on the internet? So, they're just a twit trying to wind people up or take advantage of the fact their target isn't near them. Block them and move on.

But now, it seems half the news seems to be about some 'evil' behaviour on the internet. Like all those articles about celebrities and Twitter threats and hate. Or articles on gaming industry sites about how to 'manage your social media without having a break down'. Or the long rants about how sexist/racist/classist/whatever random people on the internet supposedly are.

When did this all come about? When did people stop blocking and ignoring trolls and bullies online and decide it was some sort of global evil epidemic that needed to be fought?

Because while I won't defend the vile behaviour of certain people online, I do feel a lot of people are making a mountain out of a molehill here. That certain people have way too thin a skin nowadays and seem to take everything far too personally.

Did the special snowflake crap cause everyone to have a break down the minute someone took a disliking to them? Are the old print media and politicians trying their hardest to destroy the social media and the internet by making it look worse than it is?

Since when did complaints about Twitter/Facebook/internet forum hordes/whatever become such a big deal and why?

 

I don't know but I see where your coming from. People do complain about it a lot more now than they did when I first joined the internet world. Maybe people are just more aware of it? I'm not sure.

Honestly though, I've never really come across any trolls or idiots online and if they do then I block them. Simple as.

 

A couple of theories....

1. The Internet is becoming more of what it should be. A public place for people to "meet". Thus, more people get upset, when the "peace" is messed with and there are too many people badly in need of attention, who are glad to hide behind their monitors to do their disturbing of the peace.

2. Yellow journalism is gaining traction, because of this Internet "meeting place". Normal news just doesn't cut it anymore, but rather, things have to be reported about and in a certain ways, so it reaches people, who have attention spans of hyperactive chimpanzees, which is an incorrect belief driving the sensationalism IMHO and a current sickness in the media.

So, yes, the problem of poor behavior on the Internet is more poignant than in the past, but also blown out of proportion by any reporting of it.

Scott

 

The second one is a point I probably should have considered. Journalism and news is in a pretty poor state nowadays, and it definitely loves turning every little issue in an 'end of the world' level disaster. It's especially accurate about gaming news, which is currently in a state best described as 'tabloid level yellow journalism too extreme for the Daily Mail or Sun'.

I wouldn't be surprised if the 'hit driven' culture had something to do with the latter. The belief a story is better if it shocks as many people as possible and gets a ton of angry reactions.

I'm not sure anonymity or attitude changes have much to do with it though. I mean, I visit a ton of gaming sites where this sort of thing is and these articles are endemic, and the attitudes from the anonymous trolls and not anonymous trolls aren't particularly different. Sites that require a 'real' name (like Gamasutra and Gamesindustry) often have just as much of a horrible attitude in the comments and discussion as those that don't (like IGN, Gamespot or Kotaku).

 

I agree this is one of the problems of the internet. Many times there is little or no accountability for those that transgress.

I am not a tech so do not know the workings, but I was told that at least one Ddos attack was once redirected to another site.

If the perpetrator has a site, this would seem like poetic justice.

 

I don't seem to have to deal with trolls these days.

 

@Cerberus - out of curiosity, does your hoster somehow decipher the Ddos packets from normal traffic or do you end up getting charged for it or are you still under your traffic limit?

Scott

 

Thanks. That kind of information is interesting for me to know.

Scott

 

If a website was attacked and Ddosssed, would extra bandwidth charges accrue after the host had been informed?

 

Personally, I haven't seen much change. My first forum was a gaming site, and we had hackers, people DDOS'ing us and constant trolling since (more or less) day one. I think it's just a matter of who your audience is. Some are more prone than others.

One thing that has gotten better is the technology, or more specifically, the availability of it. It's pretty easy, and often cheap, to make a mess of things.

 

A DDoS isn't the equivalent of trolling, it's a crime and those found guilty spend real time in prison. USA, UK, Europe, Australia, all over the civilized world.

http://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/201...ed-denial-of-service-attacks-against-the-law/

It's hard to find/prove but not impossible.

 

It is true that Denial of service attacks are illegal, in a similar way that hacking is illegal and some people who do these acts are jailed. Information about these illegal acts have in the past been passed along to the authorities for them to check, with positive results.

Fortunately I have never hacked nor taken part in any DDos activity, but I have reported some who have.​

http://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/?s=is hacking illegal

I did read some time back that it was possible to pay certain people to launch a DDos attack for a "start up fee" initially and then a smaller fee per day to keep running it.
I think as you say, the technology may have improved since then.

 

It's not trolling anymore than murder is the newest forum of boxing.

 

That doesn't mean it's not a form of trolling. Nowhere does it say all methods of trolling are actually legal.