In this month's issue of Personality and Individual Differences, a study was published that confirms what we all suspected: internet trolls are horrible people.
Let's start by getting our definitions straight. An internet troll is someone who comes into a discussion and posts comments designed to upset or disrupt the conversation. Often, it seems like there is no real purpose behind their comments except to upset everyone else involved. Trolls will lie, exaggerate, and offend to get a response. What kind of person would do this?
Canadian researchers decided to find out. They conducted two internet studies with over 1,200 people. They gave personality tests to each subject along with a survey about their internet commenting behavior.
Now there is more information in this article about how they conducted the study, and their specific finds, but it was this last part that caught my attention:
Trolls truly enjoy making you feel bad. To quote the authors once more (because this is a truly quotable article):
"Both trolls and sadists feel sadistic glee at the distress of others. Sadists just want to have fun ... and the Internet is their playground!"
So next time you encounter a troll online, remember a few things. (1) These trolls are some truly messed up people and (2) it is your suffering that brings them pleasure, so the best thing you can do is ignore them.
So keep all of that in mind my friends the next time some troll posts a poorly worded defense of the Palins, insults all IM visitors, or simply takes a shot at yours truly.
Always remember that THEIR lives are so pathetic and devoid of happiness, that the only way they can give their lives any meaning is by making you angry at them.
Since you approve all the comments, why don't you just delete them? They make for dull reading.
ReplyDeleteIf Gryphen didn't approve the troll comments, they'd pop up elsewhere bitching about how "Gryphen only posts comments that AGREE with him!"
DeleteBy posting the good, bad, ugly, and just plain stupid...Gryphen can offer us a place that is uncensored- a welcome gift after many anti-Palin blogs have been heavy handed when deleting things (such as the euroblog which routinely deletes comments favorable to Gryphen but leaves the ones containing juvenile or insulting comments about him) -- AND a place where the trolls can't run the show, since Gryphen doesn't approve when one of them posts spam comments.
Though I despise the repetitious, grammar murdering comments of The IM Troll, I think the way Gryphen does it is the best way- and that is why he has had a great back and forth among readers for years and years, while other blogs tend to have less and less people comment once they see the heavy censorship- OR alternately tons of people flood the comments but not with anything substantive. (More like chitchat)
It's the best of all worlds here. And who knows, maybe one day The IM Troll's laptop will be struck by lightning or something. Ah, what a utopia it would be here.
Anyone else think that the trolls that sometimes appear on this page are Palins or some of their followers?
DeleteFrom the sounds of it, I'd say half of the troll comments are Palins or Heaths.
Delete@4:32 I was thinking the same thing. It's Gryphen's blog. He can do what he likes. I find it boring to read one comment after another that says pretty much the same thing. The troll does not seem to read or understand the responses or she would have learned the difference between slander and libel. She things that slander = lying, while it involves more than that. Come to think of it, we have never seen Sarah Palin file a suit for libel or slander considering all of the things that have been said and written about her.
DeleteBut back to the troll. We shouldn't respond, and maybe the troll will get bored and post those rude remarks some place else. But other places do block comments that are critical of Sarah Palin. Try posting one truthful comment about Sarah at her favorite fan sites, and you will end up getting flagged, moderated and then banned from ever commenting there again. Correct an error that Sarah made or point out that Tim Crawford is not married to Greta VS, and they will still pounce on you before running you off their blog.
The IM troll does not want to engage in a reasonable conversation. I would be happy to see the troll comments blocked. I have seen people post comments here that don't agree with what some one else wrote, and it's civil. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions. I don't think that we need to call the Palins ugly names. It lowers the level of the conversation. However, Track was over there in Iraq defending our right o write what we want. So, thanks, Gryphen, for being a good host.
4:32 You don't have to read them, Troll.
DeleteI don't think any of them are actual Palins or Heaths but could be some of the fools from C4P.
DeleteOh you betcha some of those trolls are from the actual Palin family kin!
DeleteI thoroughly believe that Gryphen only lets "important" trolls comments through. Meaning the Palin KKKlan themselves or their paid lemmings....higher ups on SarahPAC if you will, etc. Not just any old troll because if that was the case this blog would be completely over run.
"Anonymous6:03 PM
DeleteIf Gryphen didn't approve the troll comments, they'd pop up elsewhere bitching about how "Gryphen only posts comments that AGREE with him!""
---------------------------------------------
I agree with your post completely.
On the other hand, an appropriate response to this whine: "Gryphen only posts comments that AGREE with him!" is: "So fucking what? It's his blog."
A blog is someone's personal, private, area. They invite people to their blog to read and respond to their posts and ideas, much as you might invite people to your home for good conversation and challenging discussions.
Would you put up with someone like any number of our resident trolls here barging into your home uninvited to wander around insulting your guests, lying to your face, never contributing anything of value to the conversation? Probably not. You'd show them the door and tell them they are not welcome to return.
Each blog has its own tone and knowing that anyone can say their piece is valuable. You know that the blog owner is not trying to skew the opinion s about their post.
On the other hand, I also read monitored blogs. If you are going to be an asshole, you will not be taking part in the conversation. Period. And this is valuable also. You can read thoughtful, intelligent comments on all sides of an issue without having to wade through toddler mentality troll comments which contribute nothing of value.
Either way works for me, and this blog is one that lets all comments through. So be it. That is this blog owner's policy.
"So next time you encounter a troll online, remember a few things. (1) These trolls are some truly messed up people "
ReplyDelete--------------
I guess the trolls here really are the payme family!!!
I guess the trolls here really are the payme family!!!
Delete*****
Yes! You can See them Willow (Slander, libel growup)
Chuckiejr a fucking wordy book on why are you picking on "our sarah"? whaaaaaaaaa!
Yep and a few old hardcore panty sniffers like Gary and the old crotch sniffier (hiding his troll activity from his wife)MJShepherd.
Outside of them its the payme family alright...
and they are "messed" up....
7:53AM You forgot "random" and "haters"- old standards !!!
DeleteIn fact that Bristol uses these two words continuously in her blog and television.
HOW DARE YOU!!!
ReplyDeleteYou, Gryphen, which EVERYBODY knows probably isnt even your actual name even tho no one can actually prove it - have finally crossed a red line on a bridge too far!!!
Yes, I may be a fake troll, but I AM a troll!!! And I have never been so insulted in my entire life as I... Ok, hold on, that's not entirely true, but it's not something I want to get into right now...
HOW DARE YOU!!! You come here and insult ME and all the other douchebag trolls who post here!!! HOW DARE YOU!!
Let me tell you something, buddy boy!!!! Trolls may be stupid and trolls may write poorly and trolls may be tiresome and trolls may be confused and sad and repetitive and.... oh, damn it... I forgot where I was going with this....
While I try to get my dander up again, here's some shit that trolls say, for your reading enjoyment:
IM commenters
- are haters, nasty, suckers, illiterate, bad, drooling loons, beyond stupid, a waste of space, uncaring, layabouts, immature, bored, dumb, seriously disturbed, tactless, pieces of filth, rolling in ignorance, classless, ignorant, jealous, bullies, mean, unhappy, liars, slanderers, pathetic, losers, liberal...
- don't know her, minimize people, demean people, attack people with no real problems, spread false myths on blogs out of hate, sound stupid, stop at nothing to destroy people, need a mental purge, don't have lives...
- should get lives, grow up, shut up, go away...
She who must not be named
- is nice, rich, down to earth, far from the worst, close, warm, owns your lives, real, not seedy, functioning, well adjusted, valley trash, caring, gracious, employed, generous, busy, sweet, non-judgmental, sunshine on a gloomy day, the best mom, treats staff well, gives encouragement, beautiful, hard working, private, inteelajunt, living vibrantly, happy...
In Non-Bizzaro World, she
- is divisive, mean-spirited, thin-skinned, not self-aware, mercenary, self-absorbed, reckless, shameless, cynical, obsessed, vile, nauseating, uneducated, a laughing stock, incurious, uninformed, hypocritical, arrogant, petty, a quitter, cruel, unempathic, jealous, ridiculous, prevaricatious, snarky, lazy, acid-tongued, cowardly, irrelevant, rapidly aging, unqualified, unprepared, sour
Gryphen
- is probably not even his real name, delusional, victimizing since 2009, sincerely stupid, matters not, writes in ignorance with hateful creativity, closeminded, not a psychologist, blackhearted...
- doesnt live in reality, doesnt know her, lives in a basement, doesnt know any of the people who actually KNOW her, tries to ruin people, is criminal, not a great father, a lying putz, judgmental, just ignorant, revels in ignorance, knows nothing
IM blog
- is a cesspool, a defunct blog that nobody reads (yet has still managed to snag 24.5 million page views)
I feel sorry for you. smh
***************************************
DON'T YOU KNOW WHO I AM!!!!
***************************************
Beldar J Conehead, EXCLUSIVE troll of Immoral Minority
Remember, Beldar Trolls So You Don't Have To!
Accept NO Substitute!
There, there, Beldie!!! I'm sure Gryphen didn't mean you!!!
DeleteYes, @7:54pm, you said it.
DeleteBeldar is much more entertaining than the usual troll(s).
You were an airborne submariner??
DeleteMy husband was the submarine window washing crew chief!!
Ah, Beldar, I skipped every other comment just to see what you had to say about this outrage.
DeleteSMH, what people do for attention! Hey Beldar, there's an animated movie coming out called "The Box Trolls". You should sue them for libel, or slander, you're the leader of the troll pack, and don't let them forget it!!!!!
DeleteSMH, Gryphen - how can you live life vibrantly if you spew such drivel? Dontcha know that that the trolls are happy and living a very fulfilled life? SMH at you and the other IM people here who don't know anyone personally.
ReplyDelete/snark
They don't make me angry, but they do make me bored.
ReplyDeleteYawn, I say, yawn.
Very O/T --- took a cruise on SarahPalinChannel, only to discover that Creepy Chuck, Sr. now has a regular column called (yes, you read this right) "What the Chuck?"
ReplyDeleteHe'll offer words of wisdom about Alaska, "the 50th state [sic] "
Yes, that's right. Evidently Sarah and Chuck do not know that Alaska is the 49th state!
Hawaii, birthplace of our great President, is the 50th!
Sarah, former half-term governor of the 49th state, why don't you just fold your hand?
Oh for pete's sake, picky, picky, 49th or 50th, one number off, close enough!! Who are you the liberal media, always griping about facts.
DeleteYou couldn't make this stuff up !!!!
What the Chuck? sounds like what the f**k?
It was more important for Chuckles to show off the giant penis bone than to learn the history of Alaska.
DeleteYeah, Anon 5:51--What the Chuck? Those Palin's are so classy!
DeleteOMG..well, maybe he is imparting tidbits about Hawaii. Or maybe he's just stupid?
DeleteWhat the Chuck? sounds like what the f**k?
Delete-------------------------
So titled since that is what people say every time he opens his mouth. Clever, huh?
Can someone get a screen shot of this? Priceless!
DeleteWhat a bunch of morons. I would think that all Alaskans, except maybe the three and four year olds, would know that Alaska is the 49th State. And this was actually posted on the Quitter's so called channel? A former Governor doesn't know when the State entered the Union? Unbelievable.
DeleteHey Sarah, Delaware was the first State. Can you name the second? Are you smarter than a second grader?
Chuck Jr. is one of the biggest Palin trolls around and not just on this blog...but anything anti-Sarah Christ.
DeleteChuck trolls because it's his bread & butter and he can't wait to write his next best-seller.
DeletePlus, Delaware is the home state of Joseph R. Biden, who defeated the Governor of the 49th state, to become the Vice President of all 50 states.
DeleteHe's still the Vice President, while Sarah is just a plain old, and getting older, one-of-320-million private citizens.
If either of those dunces (Chuckles or Sarah) could even spell the word, let alone know what it means, I would say it is their subliminal attempt to convince their dimwitted drooling flock that Hawaii? Hawaii?Heck no, Alaska is the 50th state and then no more statesies. Hawaii is a colony of Kenya, don't ya know?
DeleteOh come people don't you remember the TV program Alaska Five O.
DeleteThe cops went after criminals on snowmobiles and the opening screen was a guy snowboarding down a glacier!
So the noble Beldar is truly saving trolls from themselves. He deserves a medal.
ReplyDeleteThat's why I blocked the Florida troll a while back and delete her comments when she sneaks through.
ReplyDeleteSo the Florida troll is "the" troll now? I guess I missed the handing over of the reins from Kristy P during my sabbatical from all things Palin.
DeleteWhat are the odds that the two wrote in exactly the same grammatically challenged, "smh, lol, haters, jealous, get a life, Tripp & Trigg have never gone a day without cuddles" nonsensical style?
It certainly shows a pattern regarding the mentality of the people who believe Palin's smoke and mirrors. (Smoke from the meth pipe, mirror off which to snort coke, I'm sure)
Anyway...I guess I owe Kristy an apology since I've been thinking she was still IM troll 24/7. But knowing she is still out there SOMEWHERE kissing Palin ass, I'm just not going to give her one.
Did Kristy move to Florida?
DeleteNyah. The Brooklyn troll is the Florida troll. One and the same person. Not Kristy. Police took a little stroll to her parents house at the mushroon farm in Florida and she was warned off from any further stalking of Sunny Johnston.
DeleteAll this talk about Kristy the troll is really boring. Why not take Gryphen's advice and ignore her if you don't like her opinions.
DeleteOT
ReplyDeleteJust surfing around and found this at HP
"I have first hand information that the guy Bristol slapped has pressed charges and will sue Bristol. Furthermore, the fight was much more brutal than Sarah is letting on. I saw a picture of one guy who's lip was cut about 3/4" toward his nostril. And Bristol is just VERY LUCKy the guy she slapped didn't knock her cocky bitchy ignorant brat out cold. BUT he'll get his revenge and those who lost their jobs for talking to the Media because will write a book about the truth and the Palin clan of white trash bigots will go down in history as the family that took McCain down to the lowest level in his life. SHAME on MCCain for raising these idiots up onto a platform they don't belong on. I wish the Media would just STOP writing about them! But alas, reality TV is the rage and well, ya sure ya betcha the Palins sure make me glad I am not in their family!!
Reply · Like · 27 · 21 hours ago
+++
Dont know how true it is - but wouldn't it be something if it WAS TRUE!!
Oooooweee, I hope this is true, too!
DeleteIt's not just the schadenfreude I'm after, truly. The fact is that Bristol Palin and Track Palin violently assaulted people. If their last name wasn't Palin, they'd be enjoying the hospitality of the county jail as we speak. And Todd as well, now that I think about it. Choking someone would be cause for an assault charge in most places. If a minority choked someone, probably an attempted murder charge!
I kind of doubt this because I would think someone would sue OR press charges, not both. And use the leverage of one against the other- "I will drop the charges if you agree to settle for xyz dollars", etc.
BUT...we can still hope Mr. Klingenmeyer finally decided "enough", and is doing both.
Damn, I hope this is true!
It would be great if it is true.
DeleteBut the poster keeps saying Bristol slapped someone. A mean right hook is a punch.
But who knows. Time will (hopefully) tell.
If Track had been raised by his biological family the Menards there would have been a very good chance he would never had gotten in this fight.
DeleteCrossing my fingers and legs and everything else I can cross, hoping against hope that this is actually true, and not just some sarcasm on the part of that commentor!
DeleteNothing in the court records.
DeleteThe commenter on the Huff Puff lives in Anchorage according to her Facebook page. And if she is a top commenter on there, she probably isn't a troll. Might be something to this. i hope so.
DeleteWhere did Bristol learn this violent behavior? The way the smackdown was described made me think this was not Bristol's first rodeo, if you will.
@SPHASH Curtis Menard Jr. tried to warn Sarah that she should be spending more time with her family and we know how that turned out.
Delete5:41 links please or else you're talking out yer ass.
Delete10:38 PM
DeleteIt's all above. It's best to read the entire sub-thread before you spout. I also read the comment at HP.
Dear Palin at 10:38. It would be "talking out of your ass". If you had actually attended classes instead of hanging out in staircases giving bj's, you might have picked up a few things. You were told it was on HP
DeleteI imagine that many people in Alaska are watching how Eric Thompson fares in this ordeal.
DeleteWhich is why every dollar toward Eric on his GoFundMe page is a push toward showing others they don't need to fear the Palins. We will have their back.
I went from this online news article to this (http://thinkprogress.org/world/2014/09/19/3569967/anti-islam-ads-new-york-city-buses/).
ReplyDeleteIt finally dawned on me that the Pam Gellers of the world are trolls of their own because the all are out for their own "sadistic glee at the distress of others".
Sad really.
I feel equally sad for ALL religious people, it doesn't matter what religion.
Deletei loath them, religious freaks
DeleteI was going to tell you and your IM crew what a bunch of liberal asses you all are, but since I actually have a life with a busy schedule I don't have time. Tonight is my regular Saturday night shirtless run thru the streets of my neighborhood where I yell at all my neighbors and give them the finger, my mom trails close behind screaming at everything. Sometimes my sister joins and in and finds a face she turns into a punching bag. My neighbors love me. Gotta go get ready. Catch you later losers.
ReplyDeleteLOL!
DeleteDo a line for us, trackmarks!
DeleteUSA! USA! USA!
Keep out of jail Curtis Jr!
ReplyDeletehuh?
Delete@7:18 He might be Curtis III (Curtis the 3rd).
DeleteTrack Curtis Menard. He's not Todd's child.
DeleteThe troll(s) who visit anti-Palin blogs appear to be more mentally ill (obsessive and delusional) than anything else. Who else would fall for her schtick? Of course, I have no doubt the Palins and Heaths and other self-interested parties visit and comment in an attempt to propagate the Palin myths that keep the rubes donating. It is a tactic Lou Sarah and crew have always employed. She is the Queen of make-believe, preplanned photo-ops, and poor Photoshopping (the levitation over the grass while pretending to run a half marathon was typical). The holier-than-thou Palin family public persona is all lies. The thug life brawl they recently engaged in is reflective of who they really are.
ReplyDeleteEvery once in a while youtube suggests a video that turns out to be sooo good. Rachel Maddow is so funny and amazing. The Annotated Sarah Palin:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a47uIZ32gRQ&feature=em-subs_digest-vrecs
Yes they are. Look at all of IMs regular nasties who attack for fun. Every other blog's regulars feel disgusted over IM regulars.
ReplyDeleteShut upChuck. Go somewhere where you can live vibrantly like your sister does. You love wallowing in disgust don't you xtian brother or else you wouldn't be here. Hypocrite. You think we don't know who you are. Dumb ass.
DeleteYou mean like the Palin family trolls...especially Chuckie Jr. and Willow. The stamp lickers gotta earn their keep.
ReplyDeleteIt's always seemed to me that the definition of a troll by IM standards is anyone who disagrees with Gryphen, however slightly, or calls him out when he's being a dick, which is frequently.
ReplyDelete"dick?"
DeleteThat would be you child.
I have been a lifelong troller........mostly for Pike........
ReplyDelete