The Proverbs 26 Troll, or,

[bellatrys]

Towards a Grand Unified Semi-Coherent Theory of Comment Management

~being Yet Another in the siding line of posts begun a while back and delayed due to my accident~A few weeks ago I brought the banhammer down only for the second time ever (deliberately annoying people until they go away doesn't count) as my stated and default policy is to let

Comments

[shininghalf]

Tangentially, I actually have seen "classic" trolls on occasion, I think. Cat owner/enthusiast boards come to mind, where people will show up and say "*I* think declawing is good for my cat!" and/or pretend to have a cat so they can say it died or stuff like that.

I was not familiar with the "concern troll" term; very interesting. (Dang, the liberal side of the spectrum in the US seems to be crawling with those buggers...)

Yeah, I'm sure they're out there, given the odds

[bellatrys]

Cat owner/enthusiast boards come to mind, where people will show up and say "*I* think declawing is good for my cat!" and/or pretend to have a cat so they can say it died or stuff like that.

I've just more run into them in real life, mostly teens and early-twenties hipsters pretending to be sincere so they can do the hyaena-pack laughing and pointing thing like in Buffy. The facelessness and ability to be articulate without having people jeer at you for "reading the dictionary" or "thinking you're so smart" so much of online tends to bring out more *sincere sincerity* in my experience (including my immediate experience!) but that can have its detrimental side, since *all* of us have our own Inner Crazy Screaming Guys, just waiting to be woken up, on *some* topic or other - and some people have *no* practice whatsoever in straightjacketing their ICSG!

oh, and I *think* the reason why they're so common

[bellatrys]

bugging the liberal blogosphere, is that Faux Courtesy, or the Myth of Civility, is *so* strong on the right - and that's a big HUGE part of Concern Trollery. The best concern trolls "really" (for given value of "real") think that they're just acting out of altruism, have managed to convince themselves that even though they're telling you to do *exactly* what coincides with what's most convenient for *them*, they're doing it totally out of disinterested concern for *your* good, not theirs

Re: oh, and I *think* the reason why they're so common

[shininghalf]

(I love how your userpic matches this one of mine. ^__^ )

...And then if the "civility" mindset collides with the liberal "politcal correctness" and *that* kind of anxiety to be nice (OMG, the scary bogeyman of wanting to treat others with respect!), I can imagine...

Digressing on the "True Heirs to Western Civilization™", the whole "Western vs. Islamic Culture" thing is darkly hilarious in a way. Y'all realise you just said "Fish vs. Carp," right? It is scary, though, when I squint and it starts to look like "Christian" can go as "Western" just without saying...

No, no--

[bellatrys]

that was Toad, dropping by to deal a buffet and shout "They're mocking Master! Master knows everything! Master will punish you, you'll see!" before leaping off again...