“To admit that your are trolling shows that you hold a target – forum, a discussion or a user – in far lower esteem than the target holds itself”, revealing an obvious conflict in values (Wilson, Fuller & McCrea 2013).
A troll looks to “repel incomers, to deter the masses, or at least introduce a tiny break-flow into the circuit of discourse”. While Wilson, Fuller & McCrea (2013), may say that the troll occasionally seeks to disrupt the nodes of power, I would argue that at all times trolls do so, in order to maintain the belief they uphold in that the internet is a space where manners and the norms are indefinitely suspended. Trolling; what is essentially defined as to be cunning, deceitful, provocative or mischievous – is the way in which trolls stand up against the hegemonic values of a corporatized internet (Wilson, Fuller & McCrea 2013).
From the trolls comes the lulz – that’s right LULZ not LOL (as most of us type in our texts or comments on a daily basis). As a consequence of everything I have explained above comes the concept of the lulz and furthermore to notion – ‘to do it for the lulz’. So what’s the lulz you may ask? It is an essentially a corruption of LOL. While still signifying laughter at someone else’s expense, the lulz however are much darker – prone to a prank culture tied up in disturbing or hateful speech and even more so entangled with mystery (Coleman 2014). In understanding the lulz, Coleman (2014) puts it that the lulz is a “form of cultural differentiation and a tool or weapon used to attack, humiliate, and defame the unwitting normal LOLers – often without them even realizing that an entire culture is aligned against them”.
Take one look at the forums of 4chan or Reddit, and you will come to understand the meaning of the lulz. I’m sure we have all seen many forms of online pranks such as memes and GIFs, created by the online community and it is these which signify a part of the lulz. The lulz is an example of these new participatory cultures in which the internet has influenced. To do something for the lulz is essentially trolling. Milner (2013) states that “trolling performs the work of both ‘cultural critic’ and ‘cultural syphon’, using humour and antagonism to rile angry responses and shift the content and tone of the conversation” – hence highlighting the logic of the lulz. Playing off what are the current debates or issues are in the world today the lulz is way to make fun of, stir or create havoc for our society. Anyone can troll and anyone can participate in the lulz. There is no exclusion in this culture.
References
Coleman, G 2014, ‘On Trolls, Tricksters and the Lulz’, in Hacker, Hoaxer, Whistleblower, Spy: The many faces of Anonymous, Verso, London, New York
Fuller, G, McCrea, C & Wilson, J 2013, ‘Trolls and The Negative Space of the Internet’, The Fibreculture Journal, vol.22, pp.1-318.
Milner, R L 2013, ‘Hacking the Social: Internet Memes, Identity Antagonism and the Logic of Lulz’, The Fibreculture Journal: trolls and the negative space of the internet, vol.22, pp.62-92
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