reply to post by MemoryShock
One addition to your citation of possible lesser education/dyslexia is that of the likely more common 'non English Native'.
Whilst I have seen some beautifully crafted posts from non English speakers, unfortunately there
is a somewhat dangerous perspective through
which to view this particular disclaimer of having little English; couldn’t some posters just blame their poor writing skills on a lack of English,
when in reality they
are English speaking?
(If this is the case, then it could well indicate one of two things, which I’ll come back to.)
Example; how often have we seen posters defending their writing skills with this explanation, but then they go on to construct English language
sentences
correctly - proper structure, word order and even correct tense – but with glaring spelling mistakes, no capitalisation and lazy
punctuation? Don’t foreign languages demand them too?
When that happens, for me, little padded alarm bells ring. The possibility cannot be ignored that they
are English but lying about it.
Obviously it is near impossible to prove otherwise, and slightly obsessive to pursue, but it has to be acknowledged that if they
are trying to
cover their lack of written refinement with an untruth, then what else will they lie about? (How many languages are spoken in the hoaxer/troll nation,
by the way?)
There is another probability; that the sheer amount of quality writing on these boards is being perceived as the norm, and that anything else might be
unacceptable. We all know where I stand on that. Not everyone can, or even think they should, sound like they swallowed Roget’s and Webster’s for
breakfast.
With practice, it is possible to discern the intent/motivation of a poster just by reading there posts and looking at sentence structure, words
chosen and the context (how it corrolates with the post/point being responded to).
In creative writing, there is a delightful term; “Tofu Syndrome”, wherein the writer will absorb all and sundry feedback and apply it to their
work (as tofu absorbs flavours) as if it where their own. It can also be called “thanks-sucker-for-giving-me-material-with-which-to-draw-you-in”,
and relates directly to this:
Looking at the intent/motivation of the post could go a long way in helping you decide how to respond and once you have this mindset, the
trollish posts stick out like a sore thumb and become immensly less important.
I have to admit that I quite enjoy engaging trolls.
I’ll clarify that; not the ones who post mindless drivel, rather those interesting individuals who expound their beliefs antagonistically or with
such profound conviction that it nearly takes the breath away (shouting does that). They, after all, have an opinion too and once you’ve gotten past
the defensive façade that most trolls erect, it is relatively entertaining, and quite refreshing, to see that they have opinions as genuine as
one’s own.
Others I crush with a big dictionary.