True, anonymity pretty much created the troll and the troll is a tiresome creature. Small price to pay, in my book, when we can killfile the things, and most trolls aren't as skilled as your example; a savvy user can tell the difference very quickly and, frankly, troll-spotting is a valuable modern social skill.
Of course without any verifiability, she can't prove that she's not a troll, either. Some people are just dull assholes. ^_^
I'd definitely contend that the richness which flourishes with anonymity and compartments - including fictional alts - more than makes up for having to deal with trolls. Even ordinary social interaction requires ad-hoc boundaries. Actually, that ad-hocness is also important to be kept quiet from time to time; membership announcements can suck too.
Real alts are really valuable - the immediate example is a number of people I know who are depressed and self-harm. The self-harm group provides support (the debate of whether it provides actual help or just validates emo slicing is open, granted), but you don't want your friends and family knowing you're a cutter.
Unreal alts, of course, can be anything from convenient to kinky. Female authors have been using masculine pseudonyms since forever to get credibility in male-dominated fields, after all (are you there, JK?). I did an experimental membership of a nasty social group in order to see what made them tick, including asking some picky questions, while alting (just call me a research troll). And that's before we get to the more exotic leisure alts and plain old cathartic play alts. I suppose that means that Facebook is bound to stay quite real - but it's got to compete with reality for that, and reality is realler. Meanwhile the other sites will trundle along, because plenty of different places isn't business competition (Myspace vs Facebook is meaningless, say I) any more than the living room, kitchen, mall, gym and fetish bar are.
That article, by the way, is hideously insightful and raised up grim (if amusing) memories of student life.
no subject
Of course without any verifiability, she can't prove that she's not a troll, either. Some people are just dull assholes. ^_^
I'd definitely contend that the richness which flourishes with anonymity and compartments - including fictional alts - more than makes up for having to deal with trolls. Even ordinary social interaction requires ad-hoc boundaries. Actually, that ad-hocness is also important to be kept quiet from time to time; membership announcements can suck too.
Real alts are really valuable - the immediate example is a number of people I know who are depressed and self-harm. The self-harm group provides support (the debate of whether it provides actual help or just validates emo slicing is open, granted), but you don't want your friends and family knowing you're a cutter.
Unreal alts, of course, can be anything from convenient to kinky. Female authors have been using masculine pseudonyms since forever to get credibility in male-dominated fields, after all (are you there, JK?). I did an experimental membership of a nasty social group in order to see what made them tick, including asking some picky questions, while alting (just call me a research troll). And that's before we get to the more exotic leisure alts and plain old cathartic play alts. I suppose that means that Facebook is bound to stay quite real - but it's got to compete with reality for that, and reality is realler. Meanwhile the other sites will trundle along, because plenty of different places isn't business competition (Myspace vs Facebook is meaningless, say I) any more than the living room, kitchen, mall, gym and fetish bar are.
That article, by the way, is hideously insightful and raised up grim (if amusing) memories of student life.