Kicking trolls off your Socials | Hacker News Reader

Kicking trolls off your Socials

khalah.medium.com

6 pointskhasan22212 comments

Interesting how, until around 5 or so years ago, the definition of the word "troll" was someone who deliberately posted content to get a reaction out of others.

Now it mainly refers to people that say mean things or have different opinions than you do.

how the turn tables

Yes... we don't want to expose ourselves to different opinions. It feels bad. Feeling bad is too much to handle.

You don't have a right to make someone read your opinion.

No, you don't. But it comes with the cost of increased polarization.

I'm very much of the opinion that if you have something to say, you should say it. And if you are debating someone, you should let them have their say. However, there is a difference between being exposed to differing opinions and having someone attack you online. My time and attention are valuable. If I choose not to have trolls on my social media feeds, that is my prerogative. This becomes an even bigger problem when someone crosses the line from being a jerk to being abusive and/or threatening. I don't often experience that, but others do. Making the choice to block trolls isn't a lack of tenacity, it's an active choice to filter out things that take away your time or energy. Yes, you may fall into the trap of creating an echo chamber (which can be doubly bad if people filter out all criticism), but that's on you to take notice of.

Good point, while I find this tool pretty laughable, I would strongly prefer this approach to a top-down approach on each and every platform, protecting us delicate users from the wild animals of the internet. If people wish to stop up their ears, I say let them!

> With a paid membership of only $5 a month you will receive upgrades such as a scan for trolls every minute and the ability to scan old comments and messages.

I am not active on social media, but if you have to check the comments that you get for trolls every minute you might reconsider the value you get from it.

This line of the FAQ

> <...> the TrollsBGone army of bots to examine the comments, flag, and identify which are “bad,” based on the sensitivity level you choose, on a scale of 1-10.

Is this botting mass flagging?

Poe’s law is serious business.

Troll-B-Gone Sounds sort of like pest control? ants?

Reply on news.ycombinator.com