In Internet slang, a troll (/?tro?l/, /?tr?l/) is a person who sows discord on the Internet by starting arguments or upsetting people, by posting inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community (such as a forum, chat room, or blog), either accidentally or with the deliberate intent of provoking readers into an emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion.
This sense of the word troll and its associated verb trolling are associated with Internet discourse, but have been used more widely. Media attention in recent years has equated trolling with online harassment. For example, mass media has used troll to describe "a person who defaces Internet tribute sites with the aim of causing grief to families," (Troll (Internet), Wikipedia).
Regular Internet trolls are found on any and every forum, discussion group, and even on sensitive victim groups, PTSD groups, etc. The only commonality is their desire to spread discord and vitriol throughout any discussion group. An Internet troll has no interest in real discussion or in considered dialogue. They get their kicks out of either encouraging violent arguments or out of seeing themselves as people who can divert a conversation and control it in the direction in which they wish.
Sadly, there are also Orthodox trolls. In fact trolling, either by Orthodox or non-Orthodox commenters is so bad that the Russian Orthodox Patriarchate has requested some help on the subject.
Believers should be protected from “trolls” by law, both on the internet and in real life, the Russian Orthodox Church’s representative to the Council of Europe says.
Sadly, among those who are Orthodox trolls are an overly high proportion of converts (with some exceptions). Back in 2011, Father Vsevolod Chaplin wrote:
Some call me “vicious”, “nasty”, and “unforgiving” … amongst other things. I note that they don’t have the decency to sign their posts. This tells you something very important about the konvertsy. As a friend pointed up a couple of years ago, “It’s always the Sunday of the Pharisee for them; it’s never the Sunday of the Publican”. Such an attitude is profoundly un-Orthodox… yes, it’s definitely very Sectarian in its smug unsmiling Calvinistic pietism… it shows that these children have NEVER converted in their heart-of-hearts. Reading the Fathers until your eyes ache isn’t going to do it… memorizing the Canons isn’t going to do it… quoting the Scriptures backwards and forwards isn’t going to do it. Tithing, dress codes, and striving for “purity” are only going to put you on the Path to Regress… not the Road to Heaven.
His comment is important because he is the head of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for Church and Society. This is not simply a local parish priest, nor an uneducated recent convert. This is a person who, when he writes, writes with a certain degree of Orthodox authority.
I am a convert, so I could easily be accused of the same. But, I have also suffered from the trolls. And, I can confirm the statement of Fr. Vsevolod. It does not matter how much I try to make the statement a neutral statement. Nor does it matter whether I try to back up what I state with studies and facts. They do not matter. For an Internet troll a fact is nothing more than an opinion, a study is a political document.
Worse, there is not only an increase in Internet trolls, there is also an increase in belief in what they state. In other words, Internet trolls have been successful in convincing all too many that a fact is nothing more than an opinion, a study is a political document. Orthodox Internet trolls have even damaged relationships between Eastern Rite Orthodox and Western Rite Orthodox, let alone between “cradle” Orthodox and “convert” Orthodox.
We are called to be one family. We are called to be the Church. I, too, feel the temptation to be a troll. I have not always expressed my opinions in the most appropriate of ways. Having said that, we need to be aware of the permanent trolls among us who live for the recognition than an angry reply gets them.
Let’s try to not be trolls. And, when we are trolls, let’s make sure to repent of it. Yes, we have all been trolls. Let’s just make sure not to repeat that too often.
Father, your blessing! Well said both by your self and Father Vsevolod Chaplin. Point well taken!
As I am currently an Anglo-Catholic, I don’t think I really have a dog in this fight other than wishing the liturgical churches of both East and West would be nicer to each other (and play nicer within their own communions, as well). That being said, through your blog posts, I have always found you to be a compassionate person and a voice of reason and sanity– something that sadly seems, at times, to be a minority within the Christian blogosphere. Your comment about the Publican and the Pharisee is something anyone claiming the name of Christian should take to heart, and I thank you for putting it so well.
And the combox under the picture of President Putin and the Pope immediately drives home the point :-(.
I agree with David and Elijah’s comments. I’ve learned a lot from you both at Internetmonk and here. I’m thankful for your blog.
Assuming something has not been lost in translation, the use of the term “konvertsky” is itself rather trollish, is it not, especially when defined in such a, well, nasty way?
Forgive me if my comment was somehow taken as trollish. (?) I’m an American and I have only seen this term “konvertsky” used as an ugly insult by, well, trolls and bloggers on the crazy fringes of the orthoweb. It was baffling to see it in the words you cited and in support of the point you’re making (and by the one using it).
Yes, konvertsky is used as an insult. But, since I am a convert, I decided to use it anyway to show the anger that is raised by Internet trolls. Sadly, as a convert I must admit that all too many of us converts are quick to criticize current Orthodox practice, current Orthodox members, etc. No, they are not perfect, anymore than we are. But, they deserve a certain degree of respect as those who have held the faith for centuries.
If it’s your own translation of Fr. Chaplin’s words you are doing him a disservice. As is, the quote sounds af he is insulting and condemning all converts en masse in the same spirit as do certain trolls with whom we are all likely familiar.
Nope, it is not my translation. I speak and write Spanish and English. I can read some German and Greek, but Russian is not one of my languages.
Then I remain somewhat baffled.
GRIN. Won’t be the first time I have not communicated what I thought clearly.
I am against Internet trolls. The quote from the Russian priest was to show the type of anger and distrust that they can generate. The word konvertsky may not be an accurate translation of how he said that particular word, or it may not carry the same connotation in Russian. Since I do not know Russian, I have no way to understand. But, I can see the anger that was generated, even in translation.
Should the priest have been angry? That is a separate debate from whether Internet trolls should go around deliberately enticing people to anger. But, I recognized the problem and the fact that I have sometimes helped add to the problem with a momentary fit of anger that led to an unwise reply. And, I hope that others will recognize themselves in this and may try to avoid being trolls in the future, even for a momentary post.
It’s not Fr. Vsevolod who you are quoting, but the commentary of the rather controversial blogger which is underneath his quote.