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[Visceir]

I agree with what Cronox wrote a few posts up. He does a good job of explaining the difference between trolling and flaming.

Now the responses that he wrote to Patrick? THAT is trolling.

Well, in this case I assume he was trolling all the other twitter readers and journalists who reacted up on it rather than the person the suicide suggestion was pointed towards.

You see people writing mean things to this guy and go in, write something so over the top that it's pretty much absurd (suicide suggestions), and then be amused over the people who actually thought you were serious then become offended or outraged and/or write articles about it. That still is trolling.

It would have become flaming had he actually been emotionally invested in what he said.

 

[Jenga]

I've been drawn into conversations with people like this in real life. After 30 seconds you question(not out loud of course) what in world are they talking about. Then you realize they need to get some shit off their chest and you roll with it.

At the end of their rant I put on my best Hank Hill face and go "Yep".

what if i told you we were the most intelligent people on this board?

...or gods

 

[Halcyon]

Typical internet asshole that believes he's more intelligent than anyone else.

I think even his long winded response is a bit. The things he's saying are another form of trolling. The joke is that he's responding to Patrick as one of the "pseudo-intellectual". It's all a joke. The guy is probably just bored.

 

[Amory]

Using SAT words doesn't make what you write impressive. Most of those responses didn't have much of a point to them. As others have said, it's probably just him having a laugh at Patrick's expense.

The bottom line is some people are assholes and say asshole things. That'll always be the case.

 

[ZackieChan]

Not sure why people think this guy is intelligent at all. Just because he takes numerous paragraphs to explain simple concepts? Uses lots of sometimes-large words? He lacks any real common sense, critical thinking or self awareness.

And he's a terrible troll. The guy who told the media that people were doing it "for the lulz" was a master of trolling. This guy is bush league at best.

Edit: beaten by seconds!

 

[Ikael]

That's a mightily interesting article, Gunsot, thanks for posting

As for the troll itself, it is curious how while he describes the reasons behind it, he seems to show the same set of attitudes and beliefs of horrible, shitty people in real life:

- People needs to be, huh, "educated". I am not being an asshole, but a corrective pedagogic force:

What I am saying is, I don’t think people should take the internet and its content so seriously. I think it is detrimental to all of us if we do, and not just from the perspective of restricted speech. I believe the consolidation of social entities to electronic imitations of real life structures, e.g. Facebook and Twitter, does not enrich but rather debases the human experience. The internet is a tool, not a replacement for reality, and one best kept open and free. People forget this. I like to remind them, in my own way.

- There's a greater evil that I must fight with all my might and this person happens to be the symbolic embodiment of it:

"By the way, if anyone here is in advertising or marketing… Kill yourself."

I love that stanza of his act and I guess that’s the spirit I was thinking of, because I’m really sick of these new media tech dweebs spending massive amounts of resources on advertising and crying like babies when the slightest thing doesn’t go their way. Nguyen represents to me just another one of those faces, who cares so little about how money is used, who is so self-absorbed as to publicly proclaim his desire to rid the world of a (supposedly) enjoyable game and a profit stream that could be used for a net positive gain. It makes my stomach turn.

- People brought my horrible actions into theirselves, thus I should not be accountable for them. They should learn the consequences of their acts! (where "consequences" is "me being a jerk"):

we should remember that Nguyen - who we must assume in good faith legitimately despised the attention his game brought upon him, though personally I doubt it - turned the spotlight of public scrutiny upon himself, intentionally and voluntarily.

- I have a pretty shitty existance and several issues, so I vent out with others

The second reason stems from the first. Why do I choose to remind them in such an abrasive way? I feel powerless and I take my frustrations out on others.

- But that's alright because venting up in certain circumstances (like on Twittter) harms noone

Is it then acceptable for me to make comments like “kill yourself” at people on Twitter? Of course not. I’ve never contended that it is. Quite the opposite in fact. But really, when people take these sorts of issues seriously, I just have to laugh because it is an absolute absurdity.

It is more complex than "I did it for the lulz" or "teh evil", but in the end it all amounts to extremely toxic life attitudes that ends up spilling into online territory, I think.

 

[Jimnymebob]

Not sure why people think this guy is intelligent at all. Just because he takes numerous paragraphs to explain simple concepts? Uses lots of sometimes-large words? He lacks any real common sense, critical thinking or self awareness.

And he's a terrible troll. The guy who told the media that people were doing it "for the lulz" was a master of trolling. This guy is bush league at best.

Edit: beaten by seconds!

Exactly my point. Just because he's using large words and structuring his responses in paragraphs doesn't make him intelligent like some people in this thread are suggesting. Anyone can do that, and to me it makes his whole side of the exchange laughable. He could have easily given his side of the exchange in plain English, and it wouldn't have lessened the points he was making, but the way it is worded and structured just screams of narcissism.

It's like me asking people if this is:

A) A cow.
B) A monochrome bovine quadruped.

It's both of those things, but lets face it, it's a cow.

 

[Timedog]

Exactly my point. Just because he's using large words and structuring his responses in paragraphs doesn't make him intelligent like some people in this thread are suggesting. Anyone can do that, and to me it makes his whole side of the exchange laughable. He could have easily given his side of the exchange in plain English, and it wouldn't have lessened the points he was making, but the way it is worded and structured just screams of narcissism.

It's like me asking people if this is:

A) A cow.
B) A monochrome bovine quadruped.

It's both of those things, but lets face it, it's a cow.

If you came up with "monochrome bovine quadruped" you're probably above average intelligence at least.

He's obviously smart. But is he REALLY smart? Well, he thinks so at least.

 

[brotherbean]

I think even his long winded response is a bit. The things he's saying are another form of trolling. The joke is that he's responding to Patrick as one of the "pseudo-intellectual". It's all a joke. The guy is probably just bored.

I think the change of heart at the end of the exchange confirmed this for me. To interview an internet troll and encounter some super-villain-like introspective thesaurus soup on why he does what he does is just funny. It's the perfect setup.

The details of my life are quite inconsequential...

 

[BajiBoxer]

I think the change of heart at the end of the exchange confirmed this for me. To interview an internet troll and encounter some super-villain-like introspective thesaurus soup on why he does what he does is just funny. It's the perfect setup.

I'm not sure what the setup is for. Even if he is simply using Patrick as some kind of setup for a joke in his own mind, does it really matter? If he's that kind of person, it seems the exchange is just as valid. If it's an honest exchange, he's an at least semi-intelligent narcissist who bullies people and may change his ways (we will never know). If it's all a setup using Patrick as the butt of some joke, it still seems he would be the same sort of person projected by this exchange.

 

[blame space]

god I love flaming online

 

[BajiBoxer]

If you came up with "monochrome bovine quadruped" you're probably above average intelligence at least.

He's obviously smart. But is he REALLY smart? Well, he thinks so at least.

Yeah, it's all relative. By intelligent I think most of us mean someone that would probably do reasonably well in most college level writing classes. Not necessarily someone writing the next great novel, or solving complex mathematical equations in his head.

 

[jerry1594]

Fucking aspie morons. These kind of people are a lot more common than some of you may realize.

 

[Devolution]

I imagine you two sitting next to each other on a couch with your laptops. Replying to each other on the message board, but there is only silence in the room.

Makes me lol...

There is never silence, he's constantly barking.

 

[Synth_floyd]

Why do I choose to remind them in such an abrasive way? I feel powerless and I take my frustrations out on others.

That line seems to sum up most internet trolling, fanboyism, useless arguing, etc. on the internet. People can't express themselves in real life and so they go on the internet to let themselves be heard (both in good ways and bad ways).

 

[FartOfWar]

Not sure why people think this guy is intelligent at all. Just because he takes numerous paragraphs to explain simple concepts? Uses lots of sometimes-large words? He lacks any real common sense, critical thinking or self awareness.

And he's a terrible troll. The guy who told the media that people were doing it "for the lulz" was a master of trolling. This guy is bush league at best.

Edit: beaten by seconds!

One easy explanation: age. I know a 19-21 year old undergrad when I read one.

 

[140.85]

In The Myth of Sisyphus, Camus says: “An act like [suicide] is prepared within the silence of the heart, as is a great work of art,” and later, “In a sense, killing yourself amounts to confessing … that life is too much for you or that you do not understand it.” I refuse to believe that my fleeting and farcical tweet contributes to any such monolithic act.

Oh gosh. This guy really fancies himself quite the smarty pants. Sounds like a self-absorbed college freshman. He probably didn't even read Camus.