A 4 point model for political trolling

… and why no one tends to win.

 

Role 1: The Troll turned Fish

 

1. BAIT – find or happen upon a topic which is emotionally loaded and complex, then turn it into a binary issue.
2. REEL – when someone tries to acknowledge complexity of the topic, reify the binary and raise the stakes.
3. CATCH – push someone with repeated REELING until they fall into BAITING you.
4. Now perform role 2.

 

Role 2: The Fish turned Troll

1. BITE – find or happen upon someone presenting an emotionally loaded and complex topic that you care about as a simple binary issue.
2. HOOKED – appeal to rationality, argument and evidence, and when that fails, resort to exaggeration, exasperation and then insult.
3. CAUGHT – get so frustrated you want to punish the troll and fall into BAITING them.
4. Now perform role 1.

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