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Mar. 19th, 2012
The art of trolling
Mar. 19th, 2012 07:57 amTrolling is basically pranks on the internet. Like any prank, it can be either mean-spirited or fun. A simple trolling is worthless and annoying--gay slurs, mocking the dead, vegetarianism. Their crudeness doesn't redeem the annoyance factor. A good trolling is more in the realm of using illogic to illustrate logic. A loft ambition, maybe, but it's good to have a motivation. Now, the key is to make a statement, preferably simplistic, that nonetheless confounds any possible reader. Not just in one way, but in a multitude of ways, so that they're not sure which wrongness to correct first. Think of it like how Captain Kirk got robots to explode in Star Trek.
So, here it is. The finest trolling I've come up with: "I don't see why Mitt Romney being a Mormon would have any impact on him being President. Barack Obama is a Muslim and no one cares about that."
See the koan-esque quality? Any potential correction simply opens up more avenues of correction, until the mind shuts down and simply posts gifs. I'm glad I warned you that was coming. We could've ended up with more THIS BITCH comments than an ONTD post.
Now, that's the best trolling I've come up with, but the best trolling I've ever seen is so subtle that it was actually being repeated by the people it was trolling. It went like this "Religion had its chance to rule the world. It was called the Dark Ages."
I know, right? That is downright sublime. Someone has his "smug atheist douche" joke down to a science. The idea that someone could believe that is almost as ridiculous as the statement itself. After all, the Dark Ages ended when the monk Alcuin developed medieval Latin, leading to the Renaissance, thanks to the knowledge of the Roman Empire being preserved in monasteries. And of course, there were the Muslims, who preserved Greek literature. All of whom might have, just maybe, possibly, perhaps, not been atheists.
Anyway, with this knowledge of trolling, you can save time and effort. Whenever, say, DC Comics does something to piss you off, you don't have to use a long rant. Just make Dan Didio's position slightly more ridiculous and watch your trollee rant for you, before realizing they've been trolled and getting your point anyway.
For instance, did you know the reason Wonder Woman doesn't have pants in the DCnU is because she believes trousers are a patriarchal invention? DC is committed to Wonder Woman's integrity as a strong female character, which is why she wears a tubetop, as any feminist would.
So, here it is. The finest trolling I've come up with: "I don't see why Mitt Romney being a Mormon would have any impact on him being President. Barack Obama is a Muslim and no one cares about that."
See the koan-esque quality? Any potential correction simply opens up more avenues of correction, until the mind shuts down and simply posts gifs. I'm glad I warned you that was coming. We could've ended up with more THIS BITCH comments than an ONTD post.
Now, that's the best trolling I've come up with, but the best trolling I've ever seen is so subtle that it was actually being repeated by the people it was trolling. It went like this "Religion had its chance to rule the world. It was called the Dark Ages."
I know, right? That is downright sublime. Someone has his "smug atheist douche" joke down to a science. The idea that someone could believe that is almost as ridiculous as the statement itself. After all, the Dark Ages ended when the monk Alcuin developed medieval Latin, leading to the Renaissance, thanks to the knowledge of the Roman Empire being preserved in monasteries. And of course, there were the Muslims, who preserved Greek literature. All of whom might have, just maybe, possibly, perhaps, not been atheists.
Anyway, with this knowledge of trolling, you can save time and effort. Whenever, say, DC Comics does something to piss you off, you don't have to use a long rant. Just make Dan Didio's position slightly more ridiculous and watch your trollee rant for you, before realizing they've been trolled and getting your point anyway.
For instance, did you know the reason Wonder Woman doesn't have pants in the DCnU is because she believes trousers are a patriarchal invention? DC is committed to Wonder Woman's integrity as a strong female character, which is why she wears a tubetop, as any feminist would.