YouTube has become one of those websites I check whenever I have free time along with Facebook, Twitter and my email. Actually, YouTube was one of the first of these websites that I started checking regularly. Twitter and Facebook came after. Soon enough, I created an account where I could subscribe to my favourite channels, making it easier for me to watch newer videos. It has evolved from simply allowing users to post videos to what it is now; essentially a social network. Allowing users to comment on videos, share videos onto other social platforms and post video responses has never been seen before. The video view count can say a lot about the video you are just about to tune into.
There’s just one problem that I feel cannot be worked around, no matter how many times they change their layout or their policies. There will always, always be internet Trolls around. Troll is internet slang for someone on the web who posts or comments with unimportant, off topic and sometimes offensive material. Basically, they are the arseholes of the internet. They can strike at any moment and pounce on the vulnerable. Videos and users on YouTube are no exception too.
Most videos posted will have negative comments, but those are expected. Its right to give people an opinion, constructive on not, it’s an opinion that’s worthy of note. However, in my opinion its not right when comments are in bad form and in bad content. Time magazine wrote an article in 2006 about Web 2.0 praising it for enabling
“Community and collaboration on a scale never seen before”, but then later on says that Web 2.0
“Harnesses the stupidity of crowds as well as its wisdom. Some of the comments on YouTube make you weep for the future of humanity just for the spelling alone, never mind the obscenity and the naked hatred”.
I am intrigued by what they meant by ‘naked hatred’. When people’s social lives start to dissolve with social networking, I think they find themselves becoming more comfortable in being negative rather than finding positives out of the finer things on the web. Like how does a person negatively bring comment a 4 minute video viewing it just once?
The Guardian and The Daily Telegraph also punched in with their opinion on Youtube keyboard warriors.
“Juvenile, aggressive, misspelled, sexist, homophobic, swinging from raging at the contents of a video to providing a pointlessly detailed description followed by a LOL, YouTube comments are a hotbed of infantile debate and unashamed ignorance – with the occasional burst of wit shining through.” I don’t think you could put it any better than that.
Time Magazine – (http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1570810,00.html)
The Guardian – (http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2009/nov/03/youtube-funniest-comments)
i believe internet trolls are just people who have failed to integrate themselves into society. they are the kind of people who are anti social, as such look for flaws in the one place they seek refuge, and that is the internet. pessimism is a trait amongst trolls. i believe the only way that they can over come this "disease of negativity" is by actually going outside and socialising with others, that way they can actually live their lives instead of hiding behind the keyboard and watching others live theirs.
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