I've discovered that commenting on message boards and forums reveals a different side to your personality. Usually one that shouldn't be encouraged. I spend my day seeing people being idiots to each other: typing insults; flaming; using capital letters to indicate shouting when they wouldn't dream of being anything but civil in real life. I imagine that the worst offenders are in reality meek and mild, just unleashing vitriol from the safety of their laptops.
The forum feels like a playground, with me as the exasperated teacher, trying to calm them down. It gets irritating. There are topics some people seem unable to discuss without losing their minds. Politics, obviously. Being a single parent really gets people quacking. Benefits, too. I wonder why people feel the need to vent such strong opinions. If the country were run on the internet, it would be civil war, permanently.
Trolls are tedious. They delight in being provocative. I recognise trolls from their gambits and ban them. Get back under your bridge. The power I have is satisfying. But because they're obviously not great people in real life, they don't take no for an answer, and start taking revenge by sending spam and viruses. They're no match for me and my delete button, though. I am proud of the website, and I like to keep it tidy and a pleasure to read. I get a little glow when one of my favourite posters makes an interesting comment. I see them as friends. That sounds sad but I'm happy.
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