Jay Smooth: Anonymous Comments Are the Only Thing Keeping Trolls in Their Homes and Away From Us
Commenting on the Internet Protection Act, the smart and funny Jay Smooth tackles anonymous comments over at ANIMAL. I thought he had an interesting take. He says we need anonymous comments – for our own safety.
“Anonymous comments are the only thing keeping all these trolls in their house and away from us,” he says.
“If we take away their only source of joy and fulfillment in life, they’re gonna be forced to leave the house and then we’re gonna have to interact with them in person. I mean, the really extreme trolls who do serious harassment and stalking, we need legal measures to counteract that. But, most trolls don’t have enough ambition to reach that status. Most trolls are not criminals, they’re just annoying jerks who are addicted to petty forms of negative attention. And the internet has given them a way to feed that addiction non stop.”
“Anonymous comments are a harm reduction program for trolls,” Smooth continues. “We need that troll containment system in place or else the whole society is going to go haywire.” Watch him below. The portion I cited starts at the 2:38 mark.
