A Stephen Colbert Tutorial: How to Troll
If you’re a fanperson, you’ve probably hung out on geeky forums, and as such you either are, have been, or have dealt with…the troll. For those unaware of the nomenclature, the troll is the user who starts or continues a fight intentionally, often by espousing a position they may or may not actually subscribe to in reality. Trolls can come in all shapes and sizes, but rarely does one see a troll out in the open, away from the safe confines of Internet anonymity.
And then…there’s Stephen Colbert.
Watch as Stephen fences with conservative pundit Laura Ingraham, who recently released a book containing her fictional, satirical take on the White House, titled The Obama Diaries. Regardless of your stance on Ingraham or politics in general, you have to admire Colbert’s ability to agree with Ingraham and mock her at the same time. It’s impressive stuff.
If all trolls could reach this level of Swiftian satire, the Internet would be a much funnier place. Or at least you’d be able to separate out the half-wits from the have-wits more easily!
Gia Manry is a professional writer specializing in geek culture. She currently writes primarily for Anime News Network, but also likes being followed on Twitter. She can be contacted via her website.