I’ve been sick in bed with a bad cold since Wednesday, and have been hovering and commenting on and off the whole time.
Yesterday, I spotted no less than four classic troll diaries and two concern trolling ones about, you guessed it, one Joseph Robinette Biden. This diary is about what they are, how to distinguish the two and both from actual diaries from community members who share our goals of winning but with whom we may strongly disagree.
First, Classic Trolling, Concern Trolling and the Difference
Classic trolling: In the early days of the interwebs, trolling was a post or comment that 'baited' people into a heated discussion (see above lead graphic). The point was to see how many fish you could get, stand back, and giggle with glee about how smart you were. It was not necessarily geared towards any end, other than to line as many fish as you could and watch them fight each other.
Now, to be fair, the modern classic troll here comes to rattfuck us, so it’s not quite the classic troll in that way. It shares the technique, but the aim is to, again, rattfuck us. Rattfucking, in case you don’t know, means dirty political tricks. And the trick here is to promote discord in our community. I call it the drive-by troll.
Concern trolling: participates in a debate posing as an ally who simply has some concerns they need answered. Simply put, it’s “Trust me. I’m one of you.” and “Prove me Wrong.” And they have a goal. Nothing will prove them wrong, because they want to push the alternative position to the one you have.
How to Spot Them.
The classic method is easy to spot: click on their profile. A brand new or rarely used account with little to no participation here is the tell. No participation in their comment section is the clincher. We had four of them yesterday. So, when you see a diary to the effect that Joe Must Go, or I am Worried, before doing anything, check the profile.
I think three things: 1) 4 diaries in one day. Wow. This is not in my head. Someone thinks it’s worth their money to fuck with us; 2) whoever paid for these drive-by troll diaries clearly believes it is money well spent. Why? Could be to simply sew sow dissension in our community, or it could be because they/it want Biden out?; and 3) This is early summer, and it’s only gonna get worse.
Concern Trolling: Here are common tactics used (adapted from the source):
A good concern troll can be hard to spot, in principle. In practice, very few are going in for the long con. IOW, check their profile before responding. A new or infrequent trolling diarist who engages with us is, by definition, concern trolling. Look for someone who has an older account, but for some reason doesn't participate much, except during election time, and all the diaries are highly critical of the Democratic establishment, or Joe Biden.
Finally, Long Term Active Posters are Not Trolling
Please bear in mind that there are those in our community that in good faith are worried about Biden and want him to resign. I think they are wrong; and I think it is unfair and harmful to accuse them of concern trolling. Keep that in mind as well folks. Because, and this is key, the single worse thing that can happen to us here, and in the Democratic Party, is for us to turn on ourselves. Treat our fellow Democrats with civility, please.
We remain united and we win. It is that simple. Support this community, support our party, and support our candidates, no matter who they are.
