How to argue online

[Wayne Harrison]

Handling Porcupines, Trolls, and Other Online Vermin
There are descriptions of troublesome forum users, and techniques for dealing with them.

Thanks for that link. It was an interesting read, although I wouldn't refer to the group as "vermin." They're just another facet of the Internet. If everyone was the same, how boring it would be.

Here's just a snippit, for those who didn't click on the link:

[quote]Zealots: Members of this relatively rare and benign species of online vermin are generally fine until engaged on the topic of their particular obsession. A zealot’s obsession may be religious, political, social, technological, historical – in fact, related to any sphere of life or intellectual endeavor. They confuse their opinions and perspectives on this topic with “the ultimate truth.â€

[erebus]

It was an interesting read, although I wouldn't refer to the group as "vermin." They're just another facet of the Internet. If everyone was the same, how boring it would be.

I agree that "vermin" is kind of harsh. I guess that Ms. Gahran (the author) is very passionate about the subject (although I am hesitant to call her a zealot).