The Good and Bad Uses of Trolling in Media

Jake Wernick
jw912314@ohio.edu

While reading the article, "Stop Trolling your Readers" by Kira Goldenberg, it made me think about the interesting topic that is trolling. This particular article focuses on media outlets using phony headlines in order to attract clicks and shares from the public. While I certainly disagree with the use of completely fake headlines being used to trick people into clicking, I do think that trolling still has a place in headlines and in journalism. I also believe it is important to keep trolling away from sensitive and very important subject matter, but as far as entertainment, lifestyle, and multiple other subjects go, I believe that trolling is oftentimes very entertaining when used correctly. For example, one "troll" of a headline that I remember reading on social media recently was "Aw! This Aspiring Songwriter Keeps Making Music Even Though SZA Exists." The trolling continues beyond the headline and into the entire story, continuing the idea that SZA's album Ctrl is "the peak of music as an art form and everyone else should just go home." While at first, it certainly seems as though the article's author, Grace Perry is trashing this aspiring artist, she most likely does not actually feel this way about her. In fact, it may be possible that Perry's intentions were to shine light on Ashley Pezzulli, the 23 year-old singer and songwriter.

Photo via: Reductress

Most likely, prior to reading Perry's article, the reader is unfamiliar with Pezzulli, and perhaps will decide to look her and her music up, thus increasing her popularity. Perry uses the humorous headline and the popularity of an artist like SZA to draw readers into her article and perhaps even share it as well. While I personally do not know whether or not these were Perry's intentions in writing this article, I do support the use of trolling in this instance regardless. If these were her intentions, then she wisely used trolling as a way to help an up-and-coming artist gain some popularity. If these were not her intentions, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and at the very least, Perry was able to provide humor to many readers, including myself.

While I fully support the use of trolling in situations such as Perry's article, there are definitely certain instances that I would say it is completely unacceptable, especially in headlines. I would argue that headlines that could create panic, headlines that could offend someone or a group of people, and headlines that are just completely misleading are inappropriate in journalism. One example that comes to mind is an article by Paula Bolyard titled, "Malia Obama Caught on Video Twerking and Flashing the Crowd at Lollapalooza." Despite the headline, when viewing the video, "twerking" really is just dancing and "flashing the crowd' is her rolling up her shirt a bit, exposing her shorts. The article continues to attempt to hurt Malia Obama's reputation by mentioning information about previous issues with drug use and underage alcohol consumption at the festival, despite having no evidence that Malia partook in any of this.