The Trolls of Literotica

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An essay on the phenomenon of trolling on Literotica.
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newamba
newamba
21 Followers

Literotica offers a fantastic site in which people can read and share erotic and non-erotic stories with millions across the globe, all for free. In addition to being able to share and read stories, users of the site are able to respond to authors' works by offering their feedback, public or private, either from a registered screen name or from an "anonymous" handle.

This ability to use these "anonymous" handles has not come w/o abuse and has enabled many to make some downright hostile remarks to authors, all without the fear of reprisal. These individuals who make such remarks are popularly known in Internet terms as "trolls." And on the website Literotica, they are many, many such trolls, some rather vicious ones.

In fact, having been on the Internet for over a decade now, I must say that of all the trolls and mean-spirited individuals I've seen, and I've seen a lot, the trolls on Literotica are amongst the most abusive of any I've ever come across. Which has led me to wonder, who exactly are they, these trolls? Why do they do what they do? What do they want?

I've pondered the matter in great detail, especially after registering to the site and receiving some, shall we say, pointed criticism. Upon uploading a couple humorous pieces, which were admittedly ridiculous and posted to the "Humor & Satire" section, I was greeted with such encouraging public/private anonymous comments as "No more posting, you can't write" "Learn how to write an actual story" "Give up" as well as receiving death threats, political diatribes, and being called a "nigger," which was confounding, since I'm not even black, nor did I ever claim to be.

At first, I was entertained by this and felt special for having provoked such reactions. However, after spending more and more time on the site, reading several stories, and perusing the Literotica message boards, I discovered that I wasn't alone in having received such responses and even found far worse, far more vehement examples.

Of all the examples of trolling I've seen here, all have come from behind anonymous screen names. I don't recall once seeing such a response from a registered screen name, which, again, made me wonder, just who is shooting off such replies? Who is a Literotica troll? Perhaps a bit of personality profiling is in order to attempt to make sense of it all...

Who would be motivated to make such disparaging comments? Most likely, sadly, other writers. Sure a few trolls are probably just readers, but I think most trolls are other writers. Other writers are often the toughest critics. Which is okay, when the criticism is constructive. Receiving constructive criticism can help a writer improve on his/her weaknesses and can help better the quality of his/her writing. Writers should always be open to critique, especially when it comes from a more seasoned, experienced, and successful writer than themselves.

However, many writers, when reading a piece that particularly pisses them off, will take the easy way out, and instead of offering any meaningful criticism, they'll hide behind an anonymous handle and lash out. I believe they do this in part out of laziness and in part out of cowardice and fear of retribution. They probably have a writing account on Literotica, too, and are scared of the consequences they might incur if they use their real screen name to make hostile remarks.

I believe those who engage in such behavior are either not very talented and/or haven't been successful in the endeavor of writing. (This is evident in the often poor grammar and stylistic quality of many troll comments.) Probably these trolls have suffered a tremendous amount of rejection from publishers. They've probably never had anything published or featured anywhere, except for maybe back many years ago in their high school or college paper. Whether they're doing it consciously (though in all likelihood it's subconsciously) their lashing at out others makes them feel better about their own failures and inadequacies. Misery loves company...

Such failed writers are probably not very successful on Literotica, either. The popular writers here, all of whom have surely suffered endlessly from trolling, are probably too content with themselves to engage in such antics and are probably too busy actually writing to be bothering with trolling anyone. It's likely that the trolls are largely ignored as writers here, much to their chagrin, and are jealous of others whose writing is more successful than theirs and are inclined to attack those who've received a better response than they have, or anything they just don't like.

In many troll comments I've read, there also seems to be a very superior, holier than thou attitude amongst trolls. Perhaps this is what leads many to troll, that they view another writer as inferior and feel the need to make that opinion known. Perhaps they feel the need to "put others in their place" or to somehow guard the sanctity of the website in some perverse way.

Such trolls are probably the ones who scan through stories like stray dogs gnawing at a slab of meat, desperately trying to seek out any imperfection, any grammatical error, the slightest typo, or whatever word pisses them off. The troll will cut and paste the offending section into their comment, throw it back in the author's face, and use it to attack and to demonstrate their superiority.

Furthermore, I believe there to be a cyclical effect to and from trolling. Many trolls were trolled on themselves, and this is what has lead them to engage in the act of trolling. They troll another author, and that author trolls another author, and so on and so on. It's very much akin to bullying in elementary schools. The bully who beat you up and stole your lunch money was probably also beaten up himself.

I've noticed that trolls tend to gravitate to and cluster in certain categories, such as the "Loving Wives" section. The trolling there is legendary. The trolls' reactions tend to be vile but also ones of indignation, as if they hate all such stories. Which begs the question, why would anyone even read stories about a subject that offends them?

My guess is that trolls go there with the exact intention of getting pissed off. They enjoy it. It's like people who watch the American cable TV network "Fox News" and its talking heads "Bill O'Reilly" and "Sean Hannity." Many people simply watch such programming to get angry. I think that's what these trolls are doing. They want to be angry and offended and to fight with someone.

And what about the trolls themselves, as people? Who are they in real life? Where do they live? What do they do?

My guess is that the average troll is male. Sure, some are likely to be women, but mostly it's men who take part in such bullying, nasty behavior. A troll probably fits the typical loner, serial killer description. He's in his 20s or 30s, white, socially retarded, and not very successful in life. He probably lives alone, in a shitty apartment, and doesn't have many friends or family. He probably is grossly overweight, unattractive, and has some sort of noticeable skin problem, likely affecting his face, or maybe a gross disfigurement. He might have Tourette's syndrome or an involuntary twitch that others find unnerving. For some reason I see him as also having long hair, in a phallic-like pony tail, which is never a good look for a man, at least one who's not a rock star.

Far from a rock star, it's very doubtful that he has a girlfriend and is quite possible that he's a virgin or hasn't had sexual relations in many, many years. He probably spends most of his time in a dirty, dark, smelly, cockroach infested room, littered with soiled tube socks and shit-stained tighty whities. He's probably even there now, hunched over a computer, with bad posture, drinking a Slurpee, and trolling Literotica stories. He probably spends the rest of his free time jerking off to porn, playing video games, and trolling on other sites, too.

This sort of sad individual is likely to be a sociopath, one unaware and/or uncaring of the psychic pain they inflict on others. I think it's possible, too, that Literotica trolls are the sorts who torture animals or watch snuff films and view pictures of gory accidents, death photos online. I could also see Literotica trolls being the sorts of individuals who're likely to walk into a shopping mall with a machine gun, open fire, and ultimately shoot themselves.

To further why I believe trolls to be sad, lonely individuals, I've noticed a spike in trolling around holidays, and have seen many Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc, dates on troll comments. These are probably the worst times for trolls, so they feel the need to strike then more than ever.

However, it should be said that not all sad, lonely individuals engage in such behavior, many just tough it out, many do something to better themselves, but many do turn to Literotica trolling in order to make themselves feel better about their miserable, lonely predicament. Trolling enables them to fill a hole inside themselves.

Also possible is that trolls could be completely "normal" individuals. Like you always hear about the serial killer or child molester, no one ever suspected him. He seemed so "normal." The same could be true of Literotica trolls. You could pass by one on the street and not think anything of him. You could be working with one. Your neighbor, a member of your family, the guy sitting at the next table in a restaurant, etc, could be a Literotica troll. In all noticeable ways they're "normal," except for deep down inside, they aren't human anymore. They're outward appearances might lead you to believe that they're human, but, in reality, they're trolls.

It is important to note that trolls were once people, however. They weren't always trolls. They were once people with hopes, dreams, and aspirations. They wanted to be fireman, astronauts, professional writers, etc, and now they're not and they're pissed off about it and feel the need to take these feelings out on other authors on Literotica, instead seeing a psychiatrist or life coach or something.

As for the cumulative effects of trolling on the website, that remains a mystery. There are some definite effects, though, such as some writers being extremely hurt by such remarks. There are probably many who've removed their works from the site after a nasty attack, robbing readers of what might have been great stories.

There are some writers, though, who laugh it off, engage with trolls, and get a kick out it, happy their story pissed someone off so much that they'd be inclined to go out of their way to leave such a comment. For others I think it leads them to turn off ratings and anonymous comments altogether, in an attempt to starve out the trolls. I've no doubt Literotica provided the "disable anonymous comment" option due to excessive trolling.

Stories' ratings are definitely affected by trolls, as they tend to hit the "1" at a high frequency. And I believe there are trolls out there so vicious that they probably vote a story down multiple times in order for it to lose a high quality rating and to, in their minds, hopefully discourage others from reading it.

I bet some trolls hate certain authors with such a passion that they follow everything that author does, trash every story he writes, and make sure to vote his writing down as much as possible. Such trolls are without question the most malevolent on the site, and are quite similar to a poltergeist or demonic spirit possessing a house.

So, in conclusion, I'm not sure how much use this case study has been, but hopefully it's provided at least some insight into the phenomenon of trolling here at Literotica and into the minds of those who spew such comments.

It's actually quite sad that people troll, when you think about it, especially writers doing it to other writers, especially on a free site. I do think, though, that trolls should be taken with a grain of salt, as how seriously can comments be taken if they're from an anonymous screen name?

Really, the entire act of hiding behind a computer keyboard, lobbing offensive remarks from the shield of an anonymous handle screams chickenshit, and says a lot more about the commenter's insecurities than it does the author's writing. Such people are to be pitied more than anything. At least that's my take on it. I think it's much easier to trash another's work than it is to create your own and that it takes a lot more courage to post a work in the public domain than it does to troll.

newamba
newamba
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DannyeightDannyeightabout 2 years ago

Great piece Newamba, and some really good comments from other authors too. I found trolling disheartening at first but now I think about it like this; every bit of hate they give twists them up a little more inside - their loss, not mine. The next time I get a troll comment I'm going to refer them to your article :-) Take care.

born2rebellisborn2rebellisover 2 years ago

Lmfao!! This is a fantastic piece, so well written, the Fox News reference was hilariously accurate

As was the description of the troll and reference to a demonic spirit haunting a house LOL

You’re a great writer! I will be sure to follow you. Thanks for standing up for writing in general, real writing that is, I’ve also received death threats from these assholes you mentioned!

SaphhiaSaphhiaalmost 4 years ago
Oh my god, well written and so true

How appropriate that the one comment that I saw was anonymous. Perfect and so to the point. Personally, being a successful writer in the real world, I write on literotica for fun; recreation if you will. I myself have been a victim of these drive by trolls, and so I have either simply ignored them or if one particular story or chapter particularly irks them, I simply remove the ability of comment or rate. (Again, I do this for fun. I don’t need to prove myself here.) Thank you for a well thought out analysis of the situation. Although the moderators of the site seem to care less about it, it is unfortunate that these type of attacks only serve to drive fledgling authors away from the site, thus ensuring that the talent finds other avenues for their exploits. Until anonymous comments are made unavailable, I’m afraid that there will only be more of this behavior, as misery loves company. I will, of course, continue to write, knowing what miserable existences these trolls must live to be so bitter and unforgiving. I’m just so happy, overjoyed that I am not them.

AnonymousAnonymousalmost 5 years ago
Too Serious

When I get an unwarranted trolling comment, I delete it. Simple. This article makes so many unfounded assumptions that I must conclude that the entire thing is a joke. If you quit writing because of a few, or even several trolling comments or 1 votes, then you should probably find another hobby, or post stories to Kristen Archives where there is no voting or comments at all.

JasonClearwaterJasonClearwaterover 5 years ago

The difference between someone, an author or reader, expressing their dislike of a story, vs a troll is these three key things.

1) A troll doesn't read the story. They just vote based on the topic or the author.

2) A troll votes strategically, specifically in order to damage an author's scores and views.

3) A troll frequently places multiple votes, in contravention of both the rules of the site, and of what is fair. An individual gets their chance to make their opinion known. Once.

Anyone who takes the time to read a story, has a legitimate right to cast their vote as they choose. But you have to question why they finished reading it, if they disliked it that much. Why not click out and read something else?

Because the troll feels entitled, not just to his or her opinion, but to police the success and visibility of authors they personally don't like. To police, in fact, the content in an entire category.

I'm happy to hear genuine criticism. But 'you're shit' and multiple bombings by one childish twat tell me nothing, except that a petty narcissist needs a girlfriend.

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