There’s nothing I like more after a stressful day at work or class than plopping down on my couch and picking up my Xbox 360 controller.
For the past few months, the game of choice for myself and most of my friends is Infinity Ward’s critically-acclaimed shooter, “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.”
I’m not sure what it is, but there’s something satisfyingly calming about getting online with my friends and working together to shoot everyone on the other team in the face all night long.
That is, until someone complains how he’s tired or has a test the next day and drops out, leaving our party vacant for some random person around the world to fill.
Now, for those who play video games online regularly, you know there are generally three types of people who fill this spot.
There’s the guy who actually communicates and cooperates with the team and makes the game fun as intended. There’s the guy who doesn’t talk at all and just runs around and plays his own game. And finally, there’s the bratty, obnoxious 13-year-old kid who seems to know every racial, sexual slur in the book.
Anonymity on the internet brings out some interesting characters, and usually it’s not for the better.
It’s funny what happens to a person when you give them a screenname and a keyboard or microphone.
Now, I won’t lie, I’ve done my fair share of trash talking over Xbox LIVE. When playing for long enough, my competitive spirit takes over and I need to let the person know I just blew their head off.
However, when I get teamed up with option number three from above, it sometimes makes my playing time so unenjoyable I have to set my controller down and stop for the night because it ruined the experience for me.
These same types of people plague internet forums and message boards on the net as well.
People like this are commonly referred to as “trolls.”
These trolls might not live under a bridge — their parents’ basement may be more accurate.
For some strange reason, their sole purpose in life is getting online and stirring up as much ruckus as possible for other online travelers.
This internet anonymity is what makes message boards such as “4chan” so avoidable to some, yet attractive to others.
Most chat rooms or forums require the user to register with their email address and a screenname. Those who post on some, however, may do so without using any type of identity at all.
This has caused some of the message boards on these Web sites to degenerate from civilized conversation to arguing over trivial things like grammar, personal attacks on complete strangers and words typed in all caps I can’t retype here without losing my position as a columnist.
It’d be great to be able to go online and have a pleasant trip surfing the web without having to run into these types of people.
But that’s like saying it’d be great to live in a world where everyone lived at peace with each other, Al Gore wasn’t running around screaming about Manbearpig and Family Guy never existed to burden my TV.
What I’m trying to say is it isn’t going to happen.
My only advice if, while browsing the net, you run into one of these people is this – don’t feed the trolls!
They get off on this type of thing like some strange annoyance fetish.
And while yes, sometimes it does seem fun to play along with their little game, arguing over the internet is just about as smart as shooting yourself in the leg at a night club.
Nobody wins and you just look like a fool in the process.
 
Adam Arinder is a 20-year-old communication studies junior from Baton Rouge. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_aarinder.