Trolls. lurkers and being liked :)
So I have been thinking quite a bit lately about censorship.There has been lots said about the recent jailing of a guy for making comments on twitter about the unfortunate incident with Fabrice Muamba. Well, nobody seems to know exactly what he was jailed for as in the actual charge, but anyway he was jailed. then there was public debate because a woman wrote an article about how being beautiful wasn't all that etc. So it started me thinking, and then I got my very own personal troll.
Now, I'm always very careful to point out to people that my opinions are just that. Mine, and an opinion. They might be, (ahem loosely) based on fact or experience, but they're not Gospel. and I don't mind too much if people don't agree. Good healthy debate is enjoyable. I post lots of opinions on twitter and I also read lots of other people's too.I opened a twitter account because I was recuperating after a serious op and got bored. I got chatting to lots of nice people, most of whom I've met. The rest is history.I didn't do it to be liked, or get half a bizzillion followers or anything like that. I post things I like/don't like/find interesting/find boring etc. I started this blog as a kind of extension of same. Sometimes when I post things I think nobody reads them. Then I'll get a comment or a re-tweet that makes me go wow! ( mostly in a good way). For example I wrote my last blog on an off day and thought nothing of it. Then I got a truly lovely comment about it from someone (they know who they are) and I thought OMG is he psychic or something? until I remembered the blog. Then I thought oh shit someone actually reads that crap! Either way, I felt comfort and support. Or yesterday, when I checked in to a place on Four Square and someone else had left a nice comment for there.It all means so much that people I respect and like actually reciprocate those feelings. It's not all sweetness and light though.
According to Wikipedia " In Internet slang, a troll is someone who posts inflammatory,extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum, chat room, or blog, with the primary intent of provoking readers into an emotional response" . I have had a few in the past, but the one I got this week takes the biscuit. I'm not going to name him, but he has spent the week telling me I'm ugly, I'm mutton dressed as lamb, I'm a "Fucking Munter" I'm a dog etc. You get the picture. Now, this "person" has had to read through my tweets, pick out things he didn't like, and then go to the trouble of joining his words together to form sentences and send them to me, his sole purpose in doing this is apparently to wind me up. I'm actually flattered that someone took so much trouble to try and insult me. my followers however are not. They have sent replies etc to this "person". I could block him quite easily, but then am I going against my belief in freedom of expression? If one's beliefs are conditional, are they truly beliefs? Would I be giving him credence by blocking him? I accepted a long time ago that my look is somewhat different, as is my personality, to the "norm". I like me. I am myself. Why would I want to be the same as others? I know I'm not perfect, or everybody's cup of tea. Why would I pretend to be something/someone I'm not? Come on people, be yourselves! I'm not going to apologise for being me. My experiences have brought me here, to be the person I am today. A person who is real, even if my hair colour isn't! Do I have an opinion of this "troll" who "lurks" through my tweets. Of course I do. Am I going to share it here? Prob not.I feel I'm better than that. Am I going to rise above it? of course I am. If he has to put others down in order to feel good about himself, who has the problem here? I've had so much crap to face in my life thus far a bully is not going to break me.
Sooooo....I think the guy who wrote the tweets shouldn't have gone to jail. As I read in an article this week, if anyone who behaved like a knob got put in jail for it we'd have to build more jails.Do I think that woman who wrote about how hard it is to be pretty had a point? hmmm....It's her experience and opinion. I don't agree with what she wrote, but are the tweets etc she got about the article any better? Am I going to run away and hide because someone called me names? Nah, don't think so. One of my followers said to me yesterday, "Just keep being lovely you and never change" Seems like a much better idea to me. Whatcha think?
SharonAnn
Now, I'm always very careful to point out to people that my opinions are just that. Mine, and an opinion. They might be, (ahem loosely) based on fact or experience, but they're not Gospel. and I don't mind too much if people don't agree. Good healthy debate is enjoyable. I post lots of opinions on twitter and I also read lots of other people's too.I opened a twitter account because I was recuperating after a serious op and got bored. I got chatting to lots of nice people, most of whom I've met. The rest is history.I didn't do it to be liked, or get half a bizzillion followers or anything like that. I post things I like/don't like/find interesting/find boring etc. I started this blog as a kind of extension of same. Sometimes when I post things I think nobody reads them. Then I'll get a comment or a re-tweet that makes me go wow! ( mostly in a good way). For example I wrote my last blog on an off day and thought nothing of it. Then I got a truly lovely comment about it from someone (they know who they are) and I thought OMG is he psychic or something? until I remembered the blog. Then I thought oh shit someone actually reads that crap! Either way, I felt comfort and support. Or yesterday, when I checked in to a place on Four Square and someone else had left a nice comment for there.It all means so much that people I respect and like actually reciprocate those feelings. It's not all sweetness and light though.
According to Wikipedia " In Internet slang, a troll is someone who posts inflammatory,extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum, chat room, or blog, with the primary intent of provoking readers into an emotional response" . I have had a few in the past, but the one I got this week takes the biscuit. I'm not going to name him, but he has spent the week telling me I'm ugly, I'm mutton dressed as lamb, I'm a "Fucking Munter" I'm a dog etc. You get the picture. Now, this "person" has had to read through my tweets, pick out things he didn't like, and then go to the trouble of joining his words together to form sentences and send them to me, his sole purpose in doing this is apparently to wind me up. I'm actually flattered that someone took so much trouble to try and insult me. my followers however are not. They have sent replies etc to this "person". I could block him quite easily, but then am I going against my belief in freedom of expression? If one's beliefs are conditional, are they truly beliefs? Would I be giving him credence by blocking him? I accepted a long time ago that my look is somewhat different, as is my personality, to the "norm". I like me. I am myself. Why would I want to be the same as others? I know I'm not perfect, or everybody's cup of tea. Why would I pretend to be something/someone I'm not? Come on people, be yourselves! I'm not going to apologise for being me. My experiences have brought me here, to be the person I am today. A person who is real, even if my hair colour isn't! Do I have an opinion of this "troll" who "lurks" through my tweets. Of course I do. Am I going to share it here? Prob not.I feel I'm better than that. Am I going to rise above it? of course I am. If he has to put others down in order to feel good about himself, who has the problem here? I've had so much crap to face in my life thus far a bully is not going to break me.
Sooooo....I think the guy who wrote the tweets shouldn't have gone to jail. As I read in an article this week, if anyone who behaved like a knob got put in jail for it we'd have to build more jails.Do I think that woman who wrote about how hard it is to be pretty had a point? hmmm....It's her experience and opinion. I don't agree with what she wrote, but are the tweets etc she got about the article any better? Am I going to run away and hide because someone called me names? Nah, don't think so. One of my followers said to me yesterday, "Just keep being lovely you and never change" Seems like a much better idea to me. Whatcha think?
SharonAnn
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