Talk:Concern troll
I like it Kels.--Bobbing up 14:07, 22 December 2007 (EST)
- Thanks. The "pox on both your houses" bit needs some work, maybe some links. Got any ideas? --Kels 14:12, 22 December 2007 (EST)
Sorry about the double link. Turns out we don't actually have a "troll" article in the first place, so I tossed that in there. Should I take it out of the latter case and stick it into "See also"? --Kels 14:19, 22 December 2007 (EST)
- I re-wrote a few bits. Feel free to zap them if you think they don't work.--Bobbing up 18:04, 22 December 2007 (EST)
- Looks good, I'd call it an improvement. --Kels 00:31, 23 December 2007 (EST)
A concern troll said this in the article so I CPed it here for discussion:
"In any case, why Rationalwiki has an article on "concern troll" is a mystery, since it is a term mostly internal to Daily Kos and is unrelated to Conservapedia which is usually the main focus here. Mission creep category, anyone?"
First, CP is not the main focus here. I don't see what Daily Kos has to do with this. But anyway, your concern is duly noted. ħuman
22:51, 19 August 2008 (EDT)
- Daily Kos has everything to do with this because this term was invented there, is mostly used only there, and reflects that site's raison d'etre which is Democratic Party apologetics (and not true progressivism nor antiwar activism, reference their vile response whenever a Ralph Nader or Mike Gravel or Ron Paul or Cindy Sheehan is mentioned.) Secret Squirrel 05:40, 20 August 2008 (EDT)
- I wouldn't know. I wrote most of the original article, and I haven't read Kos since the late Steve Gilliard left. Mostly I see it used elsewhere, so I had no idea it came from there. In any case, it accurately reflects the common practice of showing up and claiming to be an ally while giving totally spurious advice. Further, "concern troll" is here on RW, because we've had them here, they're by far not limited to one site, no matter what you may think. --Kels 07:56, 20 August 2008 (EDT)
[edit] Token Concern Trolling
Seems like Faux, World Nut, and their ilk have become experts at combining tokenism with concern trolling. Scoop up a self-hating minority and use them to constantly concern troll their own group. E.g.:
- S. E. Cupp: Atheist concern troll, constantly talks about being "perfected" and how much she just wishes she could believe in god, goshdarnit.
- Michelle Malkin: Asian-American concern troll. Filipina who writes a book extolling the virtues of Japanese internment, spreads other racist wingnut talking points.
- Ann Coulter: Woman who thinks women should be denied the right to vote.
Now someone like Thomas Sowell is often accused of being a black concern troll (or "Uncle Tom"). While Sowell produces a lot of wingnuttery, I think he does make some legitimate points, and, for example, he was one of the first critics of The Bell Curve when it came out. The difference, I'd say, is that the token concern trolls like Coulter and Malkin always come down against their group's own interests. Sowell would have to be defending Jim Crow or something to fall into token concern troll territory.
Don't know if this concept is worth a damn, just throwin' it out there. Nebuchadnezzar (talk) 21:46, 20 February 2011 (UTC)
- I pulled out the reference to Cupp that was in the article - seems more like she's a useful idiot than a concern troll, maybe?--
talk
02:47, 1 October 2011 (UTC)
[edit] Martin Luther
I see that we say:
- 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."
Frankly I don't think this example is relevant, illustrative or even particularly acurate in terms of the article. I'm inclined to zap it but I'd like some agreement or, at least, a show of indifference first. --BobSpring is sprung! 21:00, 20 December 2011 (UTC)
- Interestingly, Henry VIII adopted many of Luther's POV in his struggle to divorce Catherine of Aragon, and approved of the idea that monarchs were the heads of the church in their corresponding holdings, hence the CoE. So there's a certain hypocrisy there...-- Seth Peck (talk) 21:04, 20 December 2011 (UTC)
- While this may indeed be historically interesting it does not seem to have a great bearing on the internet phenomenon of the concern troll.--BobSpring is sprung! 21:18, 20 December 2011 (UTC)
- It seemed to me that it was a good historical example; Henry was awarded the title Defender of the Faith for his heated attacks on Luther (mostly ghostwritten by Thomas More), which alleged that Luther's concerns were just an attempt to destroy faith, rather than true criticisms. But I am perfectly amenable to it being replaced with a different historical example. I tend to think that Internet phenomena like concern trolling are mostly just modern manifestations of long-established patterns, so I tried to include context with this example. I'm not married to it, though :)--
talk
22:30, 20 December 2011 (UTC)