Is it really being trolled if it is just an entertaining story?
4got2wipe
In a brilliant place!
On this thread https://www.tuscl.net/?page=post&id=5276… shadowcat asked if we were being trolled by gawker. I actually still think that much (all?) or what gawker posts is real, but is it really trolling if all somebody does is post an entertaining but fictional story?
I've always though that trolling is posting things with the intention of eliciting a negative reaction. For example, I have elicited negative reactions from some people who don't like my sense of humor and from some folks that rimjobs are gay. Of course, the folks that claim rimjobs are intrinsically gay never seem to have an answer for why a girl liking a guy's butthole is gay.
But the bigger point is that I can honestly say I've never trolled. I have never written anything thinking "if I talk about rimjobs so-and-so will freak out". I have talked about rimjobs because I like them. And I think gawker is the same way, regardless of whether or not his stories are true, false, or exaggerated. I absolutely do not think gawker is trying to elicit negative reactions.
I'm not asserting that gawker is being wise, assuming that his stories are true. I think the drugs are seriously non-brilliant and his relationship with his ATF is unhealthy in the extreme. But there is no denying that his stories are entertaining!
I've always though that trolling is posting things with the intention of eliciting a negative reaction. For example, I have elicited negative reactions from some people who don't like my sense of humor and from some folks that rimjobs are gay. Of course, the folks that claim rimjobs are intrinsically gay never seem to have an answer for why a girl liking a guy's butthole is gay.
But the bigger point is that I can honestly say I've never trolled. I have never written anything thinking "if I talk about rimjobs so-and-so will freak out". I have talked about rimjobs because I like them. And I think gawker is the same way, regardless of whether or not his stories are true, false, or exaggerated. I absolutely do not think gawker is trying to elicit negative reactions.
I'm not asserting that gawker is being wise, assuming that his stories are true. I think the drugs are seriously non-brilliant and his relationship with his ATF is unhealthy in the extreme. But there is no denying that his stories are entertaining!
19 comments
Trolling, it seems to me, has a negative intent. Trolls want to demean individuals or groups. Gawker has never done this.
Exaggeration is staple of stories, especially humorous stories. Even I--known for my honesty, probity, rectitude, and trustworthiness--even I exaggerate at times.
For example, hypothetically speaking only, you say you never had the intention of eliciting a negative response from someone, but how do we know that is true? Wouldn't a crafty and smart troll say the same thing about all his trolling so as not to get accused of being one?
Then to further confuse the issue are the oversensitive types that easily get offended an play the "I'm being trolled" card way too much.
And go give juicebox69 a rim job already. He likes it and you obviously like him. Fags!
Every good story needs a little embellishment. --
J.R.R. Tolkien via Gandalf
Telling a good strip club story isn’t trolling, as it can provide for a good read (regardless of it being fact or fiction).
However, telling a story simply to anger others, could possibly be a form of trolling. It might depend upon the intent of the poster?
But my bigger point was that I don't think gawker would be trolling us if he was making up crazy stories.
I think some posters use "trolling" to mean either "posting things I don't like" or "posting things that I believe to be false". Neither is trolling. Truth be told I don't think you can prove trolling, because it is linked to intent. But there are some pretty clear cases anyway. Obsessive insults and things that any normal person would know piss the other posters off.
So I think trolling is something like obscenity. You know it when you see it!
Gawkers life is becoming unraveled, and a lot of it revolves around this one particular stripper he just cannot say no to. He’d be a lot better off if she was out of the picture.
Still I’m sure everything she does is painful yet exhilarating at the same time, which is why he probably continues to let it happen.
I never once thought his stories are untrue. Like jackslash said, we all have probably exaggerated at times and that is likely the same case with some of gawkers stories.
Regardless I can confidently say he is the best story teller on here and there are several really good contributors here so to say he’s the best is saying something.
TRUTH: my therapist says that my actions are self destructive and that my obsession with my ATF is a reflection of that. When I first met with my therapist and told him my story, his reaction was,"Are you fucking nuts?".