"They should be burned on the stake like heretics!"
Since the start of the Pussy Riot case, I've seen the calls of this kind among comments on numerous Web sites from reputable business newspapers to forums and to social media.
But I am not to tackle the much-discussed Pussy Riot story here. I am to ponder why internet social exchange has become such a haven for not just endless misanthropy, but often mere hate, harrassment and abuse.
The oldest term to describe this ever-growing social phenomenon is "trolling." It derives from fishing, meaning to submerse and draw bait. Initially the other, virtual trolling, has picked up as a fairly innocent skit: the "trolls" of the early 90s would tease and provoke the newbies in those first online chat groups. But then, as internet became the mass communication medium, the negativity online got mainstream and out of control. Flaming, cyberbullying, griefing and — a recent addition to the modern vocabulary - "sh*tstorming" are among the terms today to refer to this unreasonably angry, controversial, offensive and sometimes even threatening internet behavior. The latter term, as wanton as it sounds, won the "anglicism of the year" title in Germany last year.
Nearly anything published online, no matter how light or serious the issue and how fringe or respectable the medium, risks being sh*tstormed these days. No one is immune. My columns have been flooded by pointlessly detrimental comments a number of times. Marie Claire/Russia's Facebook page has recently witnessed a really scary sh*tstorming case after we had posted the results of the latest readers' contest where the winner was to win a luxury all expenses paid trip. Somehow the commentators (most of them, of course, anonymous) began to question the magazine's decision in an appallingly rude and insulting manner, blaming Marie Claire and its staff of all the world's possible sins. And when one of my colleagues made a mistake of reacting to some of these outcries, they turned into a no-joke bullying session. It went on and on for a few days, as if those sh*tstormers (“Don't they have a life?” we all thought) were on a generously paid mission to completely destroy the magazine's reputation.
So why do people do this? Is it the internet’s anonymity and the absolute lack of social barriers that let some off the ethical and moral leash and give way to uncontrolled aggression? Has this destructive urge always been in the human psyche as, possibly, part of the Freudian Eros and Thanatos drives, or has is emerged only in the Digital Age? And, more important, what should we do about it if anything?
I find the latter question the trickiest one. Internet has provided us with ultimate freedom of expression, giving voice to all sides of the social spectrum from dissidents who by means of subtle and sometimes obnoxious provocations strive to get their point across to real outsiders some of whom are nothing but mentally disturbed. With all my desire to call internet users to behave more responsibly and respectfully towards fellow strangers, I believe any kind of censorship there could be the beginning of the end of this freedom.
Even so, using forums and social media to racially abuse or harass or otherwise spread violence is a criminal offense in most countries. Some are considering going further. In Britain, for instance, they started debating a law against internet trolls this summer. If passed, it would enable providers to disclose the online abusers' identities to later prosecute them. (The guy who used to send threatening emails to a Member of Parliament recently received a 26-week jail sentence there, suspended for two years, with a ban to contact a list of celebrities.) In Arizona, lawmakers have already approved a measure this year making trolling illegal.
Still, I am not sure that people have become worse in the internet age. More disinhibited, perhaps, fueled by the punishment-free virtual space and thus more open and willing to vent their rage coming from... Unfulfilled hopes and dreams, frustration, self-hate or simple boredom among other motives. A happy, busy and stable person is unlikely to engage in provocative trolling, much less into more violent online behavior.
But it could also be that the anger levels are indeed higher in society than ever before. The rise of celebrity culture and reality shows as well as the opportunities to directly access anyone, including famous people, via forums is a green light for some to go wild. Therefore stricter moderation policies should perhaps be implemented when it comes to mass media and social networking sites, and users themselves should not hesitate to report abuse if needed. And while all this can be extremely annoying, the best we can do is follow the many experts' tip which is "don't feed the trolls" as reaction and attention is exactly what the latter thrive on.
The views expressed in this column are the author’s and may not necessarily represent those of RIA Novosti.
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Svetlana Kolchik, 33, is deputy editor-in-chief of the Russian edition of Marie Claire magazine. She holds degrees from the Moscow State University Journalism Department and Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. She has worked for Argumenty i Fakty weekly in Moscow and USA Today in Washington, D.C., and contributed to RussiaProfile.org, Russian editions of Vogue, Forbes and other publications.
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