Don't feed the trolls?

I expect you've come across the advice: don't feed the trolls.  With the growth of web forums, discussion boards, blogs, Facebook groups, there is always an argument going on somewhere online.  Reading the comment threads on some news articles or the wall posts of some Facebook groups is possibly the most depressing experiences on the internet.  I'm not going to post any links because I don't want to give them publicity, or to depress readers!

People argue over everything from government policy on immigration or war or religion to whether Dr Who is better than Twilight (what's to argue?)  And, sooner or later, no matter how seriously and mild tempered the discussion begins, it will very often descend into argument.  Often this will be accompanied by personal insults and unpleasant language (let alone spelling and grammar inconsistencies!).   Some people just argue for the sake of it.  They don't, in the view of more sensible respondents, deserve 'feeding.'  You can't win an argument against a troll.  You might as well not start.

Sometimes I feel that politics can be like this.  The parties (and even more media coverage) often base their arguments on little evidence, or on evidence that is skewed to their own point of view.  Of course, all the parties are now trying to get to grips with online media and to use it to spread their own messages.  If that leads to discussion board commenters becoming more aware of what they're actually talking about, good.

Often we complain that people don't bother to vote in elections, that they're apathetic, that they don't care about politics.  Fewer people are involved in campaigning these days, the unions aren't as big a political force as they were in the past, many people don't seem to be interested in- or know much about- political discussions.  So perhaps all those people who comment on newspaper and BBC articles aren't a bad thing after all.  Perhaps that's where this country's political discussion is happening in this new online world.

Wow, that's quite a scary thought.

Unfortunately, most comments seem to come from the extreme points of view on any issue.  Extremists are always more active than moderates, it seems, whatever method they're using.  Moderates are more likely to retreat, and not feed the trolls.  There is little point engaging in an argument when the other person isn't actually interested in hearing your views.  It's hard to be moderate in such circumstances.

Perhaps, though, it's not quite as scary as the idea that there is no political discussion going on at all, outside the parliamentary elite.  People do care about things- things which, if they thought about it, are political issues- they just don't seem to connect this with voting.

How can we connect these people to the political process- and how can the political process change to connect with these people?   I don't know- but I suspect the internet has something to do with it.