This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things

Abstract

Why the troll problem is actually a culture problem: how online trolling fits comfortably within today's media landscape. Internet trolls live to upset as many people as possible, using all the technical and psychological tools at their disposal. They gleefully whip the media into a frenzy over a fake teen drug crisis; they post offensive messages on Facebook memorial pages, traumatizing grief-stricken friends and family; they use unabashedly racist language and images. They take pleasure in ruining a complete stranger's day and find amusement in their victim's anguish. In short, trolling is the obstacle to a kinder, gentler Internet. To quote a famous Internet meme, trolling is why we can't have nice things online. Or at least that's what we have been led to believe. In this provocative book, Whitney Phillips argues that trolling, widely condemned as obscene and deviant, actually fits comfortably within the contemporary media landscape. Trolling may be obscene, but, Phillips argues, it isn't all that deviant. Trolls' actions are born of and fueled by culturally sanctioned impulses—which are just as damaging as the trolls' most disruptive behaviors. Phillips describes, for example, the relationship between trolling and sensationalist corporate media—pointing out that for trolls, exploitation is a leisure activity; for media, it's a business strategy. She shows how trolls, “the grimacing poster children for a socially networked world,” align with social media. And she documents how trolls, in addition to parroting media tropes, also offer a grotesque pantomime of dominant cultural tropes, including gendered notions of dominance and success and an ideology of entitlement. We don't just have a trolling problem, Phillips argues; we have a culture problem. This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things isn't only about trolls; it's about a culture in which trolls thrive.

Antifeminismo y troleo de género en Twitter. Estudio de la subcultura trol a través de #STOPfeminazis

“…En el ámbito de la discusión pública, uno de los elementos más distorsionantes es la aparición de los trolls y su obstaculización (siguiendo diferentes métodos y pautas culturales claramente establecidas) del discurso racional en la esfera pública digital que preveían los defensores más optimistas de la web 2.0. y las redes sociales (Phillips, 2015;Nagle, 2017). Los trolls realizan intervenciones ofensivas y confusas que interrumpen las formas civilizadas de comunicación online (Di Franco, 2020).…”

Movement Mobilization in the Age of Hashtag Activism: Examining the Challenge of Noise, Hate, and Disengagement in the #MeToo Campaign

“…The most prominent form of such activity is trolling—an intentional provocation, entailing a broad repertoire of practices such as posting opinions that one does not really hold, being intently categorical, making comments that are abruptly off topic, and so on. Phillips () argues that many digitally mediated interactions fall somewhere in between play—crass joking, identity experimentation, etc.—and hate—systematic bullying, hate speech, and other behaviors that are obviously damaging.…”

Positive Technology, Computing, and Design: Shaping a Future in Which Technology Promotes Psychological Well-Being

“…Different designs can promote or obstruct these types of behaviors (Phillips, 2015). Different designs can promote or obstruct these types of behaviors (Phillips, 2015).…”