Concern troll

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The term's popularity originated on Daily Kos<ref>http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/5/23/23539/8255</ref><ref>http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/9/20/12307/9839</ref><ref>Among [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/concern_troll Wiktionary's] list of references, the Daily Kos one comes first chronologically, despite DK having even earlier references</ref> (though the term likely predates their usage).  Historically, there have been many figures considered concern trolls, although generally the formulation of the label was rather more elegant; for example, Henry VIII called [[Martin Luther]] a "horrid and furious Monster" unleashing "Stings and Poisons, whereby he intends to infect the whole World."<ref>''Assertio Septem Sacramentorum.'' Henry VIII of England.  New York: Benzinger, 1908. pg 157</ref>
 
The term's popularity originated on Daily Kos<ref>http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/5/23/23539/8255</ref><ref>http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/9/20/12307/9839</ref><ref>Among [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/concern_troll Wiktionary's] list of references, the Daily Kos one comes first chronologically, despite DK having even earlier references</ref> (though the term likely predates their usage).  Historically, there have been many figures considered concern trolls, although generally the formulation of the label was rather more elegant; for example, Henry VIII called [[Martin Luther]] a "horrid and furious Monster" unleashing "Stings and Poisons, whereby he intends to infect the whole World."<ref>''Assertio Septem Sacramentorum.'' Henry VIII of England.  New York: Benzinger, 1908. pg 157</ref>
  
Concern trolls appear most frequently on very opinionated sites and are generally easily spotted by the locals, since their advice is uniformly bad for them and good for their ideological opponents. Some so-called parodists "concern troll" on [[Conservapedia]], and there has been evidence of concern trolling on [[Free Republic]].<ref>[http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2419649/posts Sending Ben Nelson A Message!], Free Republic</ref>
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One common tactic of concern trolls is the "a plague on both your houses" approach, where the concern troll tries to convince people that both sides of the ideological divide are just as bad as each other, and so no one can think themselves "correct" but must engage in endless hedging and caveats.  This preys on a willingness to debate critics and allow dissent; everyone wastes time discussing the matter and bending over backwards, so as not to appear intolerant of disagreement, all to the great amusement of the troll.
  
Another common tactic is the "a plague on both your houses" approach, where the concern troll tries to convince people that both sides of the ideological divide are doing the same thing, or are just as bad as each other, knowing the site's reason for existing in the first place is to promote one side of the ideological divide. This preys on the sites' willingness to actually debate critics and allow dissenting commentary, since there normally isn't any more to these accusations than the endless repetition of the assertion.
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The danger, of course, is that not everyone with a concern is a concern troll - and not every concern is unreasonable.  In environments of genuine [[groupthink]], applying the ''concern troll'' label may serve as a means of enforcing conformity and punishing (or silencing) dissent. And even without actual groupthink in play, many Internet posters find dismissing an argument much quicker and easier than evaluating it.
 
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== Not concern trolls ==
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Sometimes outsiders will come by and make concern troll-like statements sincerely. Some are [[Hanlon's Razor|sincere but stupid]]. Some may be sincere, insightful, and justified [[iconoclast]]s, merely making valid observations unwelcome to the dominant ideology or culture of the forum (the [[wp:Cassandra_(metaphor)|Cassandra syndrome]]). Often, of course, the person is misguided, wrong, and not actually trolling.   
 
Sometimes outsiders will come by and make concern troll-like statements sincerely. Some are [[Hanlon's Razor|sincere but stupid]]. Some may be sincere, insightful, and justified [[iconoclast]]s, merely making valid observations unwelcome to the dominant ideology or culture of the forum (the [[wp:Cassandra_(metaphor)|Cassandra syndrome]]). Often, of course, the person is misguided, wrong, and not actually trolling.   
 
In environments of genuine [[groupthink]], applying the ''concern troll'' label may serve as a means of enforcing conformity and punishing (or silencing) dissent. Even without actual groupthink in play, [[wp:meta:Don't be a dick|many Internet posters]] find dismissing an argument much quicker and easier than evaluating it.
 
  
 
== See also ==
 
== See also ==

Revision as of 02:45, 1 October 2011

Someone is wrong on

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A concern troll visits sites of an opposing ideology and offers advice on how they could "improve" things, either in their tactical use of rhetoric, site rules, or with more philosophical consistency. A typical formulation might involve the troll's invocation of a site's espoused ideals alongside a perceived example of hypocrisy (such as contrasting "we value free speech" with the banning of a "dissenter"), and with a call for some relevant reform by the troll. This reform will frequently be burdensome or silly - the concern troll's message is: "I have some concerns about your methods. If you did these things to make your message less effective, it would be more effective.". Surprisingly, there are people who spend so much time on the Internet that this is actually a thing they worry about.

The term's popularity originated on Daily Kos[1][2][3] (though the term likely predates their usage). Historically, there have been many figures considered concern trolls, although generally the formulation of the label was rather more elegant; for example, Henry VIII called Martin Luther a "horrid and furious Monster" unleashing "Stings and Poisons, whereby he intends to infect the whole World."[4]

One common tactic of concern trolls is the "a plague on both your houses" approach, where the concern troll tries to convince people that both sides of the ideological divide are just as bad as each other, and so no one can think themselves "correct" but must engage in endless hedging and caveats. This preys on a willingness to debate critics and allow dissent; everyone wastes time discussing the matter and bending over backwards, so as not to appear intolerant of disagreement, all to the great amusement of the troll.

The danger, of course, is that not everyone with a concern is a concern troll - and not every concern is unreasonable. In environments of genuine groupthink, applying the concern troll label may serve as a means of enforcing conformity and punishing (or silencing) dissent. And even without actual groupthink in play, many Internet posters find dismissing an argument much quicker and easier than evaluating it.

Sometimes outsiders will come by and make concern troll-like statements sincerely. Some are sincere but stupid. Some may be sincere, insightful, and justified iconoclasts, merely making valid observations unwelcome to the dominant ideology or culture of the forum (the Cassandra syndrome). Often, of course, the person is misguided, wrong, and not actually trolling.

See also

Footnotes

  1. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/5/23/23539/8255
  2. http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/9/20/12307/9839
  3. Among Wiktionary's list of references, the Daily Kos one comes first chronologically, despite DK having even earlier references
  4. Assertio Septem Sacramentorum. Henry VIII of England. New York: Benzinger, 1908. pg 157
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