Mystical creatures of Internet – Trolls and Warriors

No doubt many of us have read comments on social media and other public forums that disparage, ridicule and vilify others. The “shield” of a computer screen and the use of often nonsensical usernames have created a cocoon on anonymity making us braver than ever to share our opinions, be it polite or not. But who are these mystical creatures we call trolls or warriors? Why do so many of them choose to harass and threaten people?

There has been a lot of talk about how far we can stretch freedom of speech, but not so much talk about who are the people commenting and what are their reasons behind it. We are hoping that discussing the reasonings behind their actions will open up a wider public discussion on this topic and give us new insight on how to deal with these trolls and word warriors.

The discussion will be led by Lauri Tankler, the lead analyst at Estonian Information System Authority. Joining him in discussion will be Christian Mogensen, specialist consultant for the Danish Center for Digital Youth Care, Tuija Saresma, senior researcher at the University of Jyväskylä, Kyrre Lien, visual journalist and Kerli Valner, project manager for the Smart Internet project from the Estonian Union for Child Welfare.

Join us live on August 13th at 12.00 at the Nordic Talks area in Paide, or though the events Facebook livestream. The discussion is in English with a translation to Estonian sign language.