[Air-L] trolls and Aspergian "sufferers"

Michael Scarce scarce at mac.com
Thu Jul 26 09:00:06 PDT 2012 

Greetings everyone,

This is not exactly the kind of self-introduction I imagined as a new member of AIR, and it has nothing to do with social awkwardness. 

I fully understand the research topic is primarily about trolling. My comments here are less about topical tangents, and more about the ethical principles of research conduct and professional values of AIR as a whole.

I have to say that I'm appalled by the framing and discussion of people living with Asperger's Syndrome in these postings.

I'm not especially interested in quibbling about the boundaries of a wide spectrum of highly contested characteristics, traits, and behaviors, even in deference to the diagnostic pathology of the DSM.

For some of us, it's also very much a cultural, social, and political identity from which we do not "suffer." Perhaps it's a personal sensitization to the imposition of syndromes in general, in much the same way I am unwilling to be reduced to an "AIDS patient" or "AIDS victim."

Within a context of broad-based generalizations such as "they have major difficulties with the social, which is a central part of their issue," I'm truly at a loss for how to respond to the singularities of "the social," "the issue," and uniform "they."

Call me an atypical aspie, but I do have an acute sense of social irony (and even sense of humor) in how writing this might simply pave the way for my dismissal. Do I remain silent and invisible, or do I speak out and risk offering myself as an interim case study for other researchers eager to situate me in their taxonomy of online deviance?

We are more than a singular "issue," more than an arrested development with which others have had close calls and "fortunately grown out of."

"They" are members of your organization. It's extremely difficult to invest and participate in any discourse after having been pre-defined as the Other who has yet to speak.  

Michael Scarce
University of California San Francisco




On Jul 25, 2012, at 5:33 PM, Thomas Jones wrote:

> It looks like my autocorrect got the best of my email ha!
> 
> I'm didn't mean to state they are highly intelligent in their social awkwardness. I intended to communicate that they (trolls) are often highly intelligent, and often challenged by social awkwardness. I was closely identified but not diagnosed with aspergers myself, but fortunately I "grew out of it" so to speak.
> 
> There isn't an exact parallel between trolls and aspergers, that isnt really my point, but rather that they share similarities for analogous purposes.
> 
> Thomas Jones
> @othertomjones
> http://about.me/othertomjones
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
> 
> On Jul 25, 2012, at 4:53 PM, "Athina Karatzogianni" <athina.k at gmail.com<mailto:athina.k at gmail.com>> wrote:
> 
> Hi Thomas,
> 
> Just to say when trolls are useful, people do not generally refer to them as trolls : ) but I get your point.
> 
> About Aspergers sufferers, I dont know what your experience of individuals with aspergers is but I wouldnt say they are highly intelligent in their social awkwardness. They can be highly intelligent yes, but they are not just socially awkward, they have major difficulties with the social, which is a central part of their issue. So to compare trolls as tending to be introverted and akin to aspergers is a bit off the mark. Aspergers sufferers are not just geeky and socially awkward there are truly more complex issues at stake.
> 
> I have made my suggestions to Tom in an individual email earlier, but I hope you and others dont mind my intervention. I felt I really had to point this out.
> 
> Cheers
> 
> Athina
> 
> On Wed, Jul 25, 2012 at 7:49 PM, Thomas Jones <tajone02 at syr.edu<mailto:tajone02 at syr.edu>> wrote:
> Let's not other that often trolls are individuals, who obviously tend to be introverted, are often highly intelligent in their social awkwardness - akin to those with aspergers.
> 
> It are these same people who contribute to the underlying fabric of slashdot for example, who also predominantly created Wikipedia.
> 
> So, trolls do actually provide a useful purpose, dependent on how they are motivated.
> 
> 
> Thomas Jones
> @othertomjones
> http://about.me/othertomjones
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
> 
> On Jul 25, 2012, at 2:15 PM, "Burcu Bakioglu" <bbakiogl at gmail.com<mailto:bbakiogl at gmail.com>> wrote:
> 
>> Oh yes... most definitely! 4chan gave birth to lolAnons (trolls that hacked
>> and defaced 7000 MySpace profiles with gay porn) and Anonymous (the
>> hacktivist collective) at the same time. SL group The Wrong Hands have
>> conducted two hacktivist initiatives in SL against two other groups:
>> Justice League Unlimited (paper forthcoming) and Modular Systems (paper
>> will be written) and exposed major surveillance and datamining operations.
>> So yes, they are adorable that way :P (*joke*)
>> 
>> Also if you're one to get easily offended, I recommend not researching the
>> topic at all. The amount of racist, homophobic, and sexist language/slurs
>> that I encountered, along with porn I have consumed within the last decade
>> or so is insane. Generally, if it pisses you off and is sure to bring them
>> the media attention, they won't shy away from it. Think of Anshe Chung  who
>> was SL's first self-proclaimed millionaire back in the day and who made it
>> to the cover of the Business Week. In her in-world CNet interview, goons
>> plummeted her with flying penises and crashed the sim... Then posted the
>> recording on YouTube. Bunch DMCA complaints ensued, nothing came out of it,
>> of course. Good times :P
>> 
>> But, if your concern is to keep your blogs safe, you know all you need to
>> know by now :) There is nothing more to it, really. If there is, I am
>> willing to learn...
>> 
>> BsB
>> 
>> On Wed, Jul 25, 2012 at 12:59 PM, Kyle Kontour <kkontour at gmail.com<mailto:kkontour at gmail.com>> wrote:
>> 
>>> My two cents:  not only are trolls best dealt with by being ignored, there
>>> are times that they serve a useful function in disrupting groupthink,
>>> pile-ons, and so-called "epistemic closure".  By contrast, they can also
>>> foment the opposite, in group solidarity and re-affirmation of views (it
>>> depends on how other folks deal with the trolls).  I would count trolls as
>>> being an irritating, often awful, but nonetheless integral part of online
>>> ecology--a bit like mosquitoes or certain parasites.
>>> _______________________________________________
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>>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> --
>> Thanks,
>> 
>> Burcu S. Bakioglu, Ph.D.
>> Postdoctoral Fellow in New Media
>> Lawrence University
>> 
>> http://www.palefirer.com
>> http://palefirer.com/blog/
>> 
>> --
>> "Come to the dark side, we have cookies."
>> ~Anonymous
>> _______________________________________________
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> 
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> --
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> 
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