The trolls delighted in The (Allentown, PA) Morning Call newspaper story about the local United Way falling short of its fundraising goal. Moments after the on-line version of the story was posted, their comments poured in. From them we learned that United Way is a hopelessly corrupt system staffed by loafers and supported by idiots.

At one point in the commentary it was somewhat gleefully noted that not one of the dozens of comments were sympathetic to United Way.

Being a former United Way employee I had first-hand experience with the organization, so I entered my own comment: “I used to work for the valley’s United Way and found it to be an excellent organization staffed by dedicated, hardworking people,” it began.

Most of the next 20 or so posts in reply were seething rants accusing me of being either an unwitting shill or a liar. One definitively announced that the only reason I was defending United Way was because it had paid for my drug rehabilitation treatment.

Well, that certainly shut me up. Not because the claim was true–it was not. I backed out of the conversation because, like most of the public commentary on the newspaper’s news forums, it was being dominated by trolls.

They are more than a nuisance. They are crippling what could be a boon to social and political discourse.

What many describe as the death of the newspaper is also the beginning of the bravest of new worlds—one that promises to connect people as they have never been connected before; one that holds the possibility of providing an unparalleled platform for community discussion. The new media organizations that are replacing traditional newspapers have the ability to not only make news reporting immediately available, but truly interactive. Consumers can add to the quality of reporting and develop it into community discussions.

Such a platform is already in place at The Morning Call. All that is keeping us from it are the trolls.

* * *

There is a virtual sign planted at the entrance of National Public Radio’s on-line community:

“Don’t Feed the Trolls.”

In an explanatory post, Eyder Peralta, an editor at NPR.org, describes trolls as “people who say just about anything to get a rise out of others. Trolls … turn perfectly interesting threads into festering cesspools of resentment.”

The community at NPR.org is encouraged to not “feed” the trolls by simply ignoring their posts. It’s an imperfect response. For one, it does nothing to address the substantial time that is wasted slogging through the hateful, pointless drivel that trolls create. But other remedies, such as filters that enable readers to view only editor-approved or highly rated entries, look promising.

But snarks are another matter altogether.

“Snark: It’s Mean, It’s Personal, and It’s Ruining Our Conversation” a recent book by New Yorker magazine film critic David Denby, ably identifies the rampaging nature of snarkiness and the toll it is extracting from the quality of on-line public discourse.

But Denby’s book misses the greater point about Snarks, whose name comes from combining the two-word product of their “work:” Snide Remarks.

Frankly, in a world of micro-managed brand images and billion-dollar public relations spin, a little razor-edged sarcasm that surgically reveals the heart of a matter isn’t an altogether bad thing.

It can take some getting used to–especially if it’s your pet ox being gored by it–but at a time when we are being inundated with manipulative messages, it can be nice to have someone get to the point quickly and clearly.

Yes, sarcasm can get tiresome, but the real enemies of excellent electronic public discourse are trolls that pose as snarks. Their angry, factless diatribes are pitiful attempts to appear smart and in-the-know, but add nothing of substance to the debate.

Trolls are typically easy to ignore except for that one unforgivable sin: the time they waste for people interested in grown-up conversation. With trolls on the loose, no one will be willing to invest their time and insight into the conversation. That is a loss of profound dimensions.

They are unlikely to change on their own. The only solution to the trolls is to filter them out. Do that, and the community benefits of this new world of American journalism will begin.

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