Monday, September 28, 2015

Troll: FAIL!

Internet Troll
Google Images

Readers may recall that I posted an NPR report some days ago in which the Islamic State was shown to let slip its embarrassment at seeing so many Sunni Muslims fleeing Syria for Europe rather than for the Islamic State's territory. Deborah Amos, writing for the NPR, published her article, "The Flood Of Syrian Refugees Puts ISIS On The Defensive," on September 22, 2015 and said:
[T]he Islamic State is cranking up its propaganda campaign . . . . [because the] refugee crisis is also becoming a crisis for ISIS, as Syrians reject the group's claim that the so-called caliphate offers a safe haven, and the refugees instead opt for the dangerous journey to Europe . . . . [Recently,] ISIS has put out almost a dozen videos with messages that denounce the refugees, threaten them with the horrors of living among "unbelievers" and plead with them to join the caliphate . . . . The media coverage of the refugee exodus is impossible to ignore even in areas under ISIS control.
The NPR clearly approved of the Islamic State's embarrassment:
[No] amount of propaganda videos can counter the image of desperate Syrian families on the move with their children, willing to sacrifice everything on the gamble for a better future in Europe.
But a troll stopping by at my blog felt compelled to leave a snarky comment without even having understood the post:
Yeah, they'll never live down that kind of embarrassment. And NPR journalists are expressing their disapproval. Shoooey, boy! We really got 'em on the run!
NPR journalists expressing disapproval? No, thou fool! The NPA reporter and - by extension - a number of other NPR journalists were expressing approval! I responded by first quoting the commenter on the NPR's alleged disapproval:
"NPR journalists are expressing their disapproval."
Impressed by the troll's obtuseness, I replied:
Surely you don't mean the NPR is aligned with the Islamic State.
The troll probably didn't mean that, but wrote out of misplaced confidence and blinkered, ignorant confusion, mistakenly misreading as disapproval what was actually approval of the Islamic State's embarrassment. See just how wrong wrong can be? In this case, 180 degrees wrong! Can one get more wrong than that?

For the rest of the story, go to the old post . . .

Labels: , ,

4 Comments:

At 4:23 AM, Blogger Antony Trepniak said...

I think that the Anonymous One meant that NPR journalists were expressing disapproval of ISIS but, in his heightened state of snark, lost the ability to express himself clearly.

Please don't take this wrong, but I much preferred the old definition of a 'troll' as a person who deliberately sets out to create discord and havoc in online communities via sneaky, inflammatory posts over the new, far wider use which pretty much encompasses "anybody who expresses disagreement with me on the Internet."

Saying that, I can't stand the obnoxious, sarcastic manner in which posters such as 'Anonymous' routinely express themselves online. Unfortunately, I think that any hope of introducing civility into the medium is a lost cause. It bears a great deal of similarity to shouting abuse out of car windows.

 
At 4:31 AM, Blogger Horace Jeffery Hodges said...

I agree. I was testing to see if the 'troll' would return. I don't take trolls (or 'trolls') seriously. I enjoy making them the butt of jokes - making fun of them whether they know it or not - and they give me something to blog about.

Jeffery Hodges

* * *

 
At 3:40 AM, Blogger Antony Trepniak said...

Trollbaiting - a vegan bloodsport for all the family!

 
At 9:57 AM, Blogger Horace Jeffery Hodges said...

That troll image above does look rather chlorophyllic . . .

Jeffery Hodges

* * *

 

Post a Comment

<< Home