"The Day I Confronted My Troll"

[Waski_the_Squirrel]

Has anyone ever read the comments on some news articles? Or seen absolutely vicious hate spewed at someone online? Have you ever wondered what kind of person writes this kind of sick garbage?

I read an article today about a writer who actually dropped a lot of his online contact because of a really vicious troll. The troll made a point of attacking his religion, spewing hate toward his family, and even threatening him. He got truly scared when a package of ashes was delivered to his house with a note reading, "Say hello to your relatives from Auschwitz." Later he got another note threatening his family in language too strong for me to repeat here. Luckily, he had a friend who was an IT genius.

The friend tracked down the troll. The troll turned out to be the 17-year-old son of another friend. The kid didn't even have a rational explanation for why he did it. The best he could offer was, "I don't know. I'm sorry. It was like a game thing."

How many of these creepy little trolls on the internet are actually bored kids who don't quite make the connection that they're interacting with real people?

Here is the link:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/sep/26/day-confronted-troll

 

[Guard Dad]

I think we know a few of these types, Waski.

(From another forum we were members of)

 

[Waski_the_Squirrel]

I think we know a few of these types, Waski.

(From another forum we were members of)

I was thinking about that as I posted this. I was the brunt of some unpleasantness, but not the open brutality that a few of the other members there faced.

 

[gog8tors]

I think we know a few of these types, Waski.

(From another forum we were members of)

I've been there too.

 

[Madea]

I've had unpleasant comments made to me, but I don't think I've ever been "stalked". While the comments were unpleasant, I didn't feel personally threatened. I was just angry that someone would say those things to me.