January 31, 2004

Troll Patriot Act

I was talking to Halley from the grocery store parking lot today, on my way to buy soy milk, Halley at home looking out the window with her new eyes, and I was telling her about the liberal use of the word "Troll" I'm seeing in comments these days, and well, actually, I was bitching at having been labeled one of those pesky trolls for some honest yet negative comments I've left on a deserved site or two recently.

People, people, people: Someone who disagrees with you, or even who thinks you're being dishonest and selfish and says so on your site, isn't a troll. Just a blogger with nothing to lose. Trolls are looking for attention, usually with a pseudonym or "anonymous" signature. Trolls don't tell you where they live online.

On the other hand, smart mouthy bloggers don't much care about getting attention (at least on Tuesdays and Thursdays), are usually trying to engage you in stepping off your bully pulpit and getting real, and will usually be happy to tell you where they live.

I said to Halley, "For crying out loud--I got called a TROLL! What's next? Anyone who says anything negative about a post is a fucking troll now?"

And we start laughing and come up with The Troll Patriot Act, which enforces support for all blog posts. That's right. From now on, if you disagree in blog comments, you go straight *not* to Gutanamo Bay, but to Runaway Bay.

See you there!