Trollin’ Teh Forums ::: Thoughts On Textual Digital Content As Physical Space

Initially, my thoughts on that term “troll” were purely humorous and based in strategies of agitation. This is not to say that my thoughts regarding “trolling” have deviated that greatly, especially vis-a-vis strategic agitation. I think differently about “trolling” after Trump’s successful White House bid, and becoming more familiar with Steve Bannon’s Breitbart. “Humor” is only a stylistic choice. Similarly, content that lacks vetting or primary source researching is a stylistic choice. What ultimately defines this “trolling” as an effective means of communication strategy is pure numbers. There is a sensationalism that is generated by flooding a channel with your particular viewpoint.

There is a sense of physical presence that populated pieces of content creates. Granted, this occurs more frequently when viewing sites designed to imitate a sense of dynamic speed. Sites that are designed to make users feel “up to date” are more prone to give a sense of physicality and immense-ness when “trolled”. Now, couple that with a headline framed in a bold slab-serif font and a vividly colored avatar. This visual, while flat(two dimensional with no intentions of playing human perceptions of depth), has a tendency to recreate that sensation that occurs when a charismatic or sexually appealing person enters a room.

It is this phenomenon of media communications that I seek to regard as “trolling”.