A short post to ask a largely rhetorical question.
Why is it that some people have an uncanny ability to sniff out controversy on the Internet? Why are they often people who'll lay low for weeks or months on end, then -- voila! -- pop up as soon as they see an opportunity to add fuel to a flame? Why do they seem to thrive on, even live for craziness, for any chance to contribute to a pile-on, or voice their self-righteous indignation, or don a mantle of superiority?
I've seen a lot of this. Am I the only one who has?
11 comments:
I've seen it. No idea why people get off on it. They are the people who probably delight in starting controversy at the family dinner, or at least poking at things with a pointy stick just to see what will happen. It's like some kind of psychic connection. They hover and hover and then when they see their opportunity strike. Apparently about 10% of the population is considered psychopathic, not in the kill you in your sleep sense, but in the total lack of empathy sense and the willingness to not give a damn if they say something rude or hurtful. The percentage on the internet is probably higher.
Yep. And it makes me nuts. I've banned people on GR and quit reading a very popular book review site for that kind of crap, it's just mean and unnecessary.
There's one author that apparently is really good, but she is a shit-stirrer from the word "go". Gasoline on flames whenever some controversy starts - I refuse to even read a review of her books.
Maybe it's people who believe the any attention is good attention thing? I confess that there are blogs I follow simply so I can be prepared to duck or hide when they start stirring up shit.
"They hover." Yes, exactly. There's an almost predatory creepiness about that kind of behavior, especially since these types spend so much of their time in hiding (which adds a paranoid dimension to the stalkerish dimension).
I wonder how their weirdness manifested before the advent of the Internet.
Cris, you might be referring to the same person who inspired this blog post. ;-) But there are others.
Yeah, Goodreads can be a hotbed for this sort of thing. Any large review site can. I've learned to run in the opposite direction as soon as certain posters show up.
Chris, I honestly can't fathom what motivates these people. In the case of certain spotlight-grabbing authors, it's surely a desire to promote themselves. But other individuals seem driven by pure arrogance -- a belief in their absolute moral rectitude and a need to proselytize. Kind of like a cult leader. {{{shudder}}}
Yup, seen it. I so avoid those people. :)
~smooches~
Best thing to do, Jase, for sure.
I swear some of these people set up Google alerts. One prolific wankster darkened my blog's doorstep once, and only once, after I defended a peer during one of several prior M/M shitstorms. All I could figure is that this person had run a search, or even set up an alert, on the issue at hand. Which makes that particular personality type even more disturbing -- yet all the more pathetic, too.
Exactly, Kitty. They wait and watch. What's just as disturbing is their paranoia and secrecy. While they're monitoring other discussions, they're keeping their own social network accounts (blog, LJ, Twitter, Facebook) private and well-guarded ... or at the very least, tracking visitors' ISP addresses.
It's beyond creepy. And beyond my comprehension.
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