#concern troll

Hello, Anon:

The short version: someone who pretends to care about you, be worried about you, etc., but in reality they're just making hateful and bigoted statements about you, insulting you, talking down to you, or condescending you. They frame their bigotry as concern for your well being.

An example would be someone saying they believe you should lose weight, that being fat makes you ugly and worthless, and that no one would love you if you're fat, and then saying, "I'm sorry. I'm just concerned for your well being is all. Don't you want to be loved, be happy, be healthy? I think you deserve that. You deserve to be loved and happy."

If they really felt that way, then they wouldn't be bullying you for your weight, wouldn't insist that you are worthless and ugly as a fat person, and would be more willing to prioritize your mental health and emotional well being.

Here are some more definitions from Urban Dictionary:

1. In an argument (usually a political debate), a concern troll is someone who is on one side of the discussion, but pretends to be a supporter of the other side with "concerns". The idea behind this is that your opponents will take your arguments more seriously if they think you're an ally. Concern trolls who use fake identities are sometimes known as sockpuppets.

2. A person who posts on a blog thread, in the guise of "concern," to disrupt dialogue or undermine morale by pointing out that posters and/or the site may be getting themselves in trouble, usually with an authority or power. They point out problems that don't really exist. The intent is to derail, stifle, control, the dialogue. It is viewed as insincere and condescending.

A concern troll on a progressive blog might write, "I don't think it's wise to say things like that because you might get in trouble with the government." Or, "This controversy is making your side look disorganized."

3. Someone who raises a false question as a means of injecting a totally unsupported allegation into the public discourse. When challenged on the barely-veiled insinuation, they claim that they were "only asking a question."

You can see other examples and definitions here:

https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Concern_troll

http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Concern_troll

(Sung to the tune of Mr. Sandman)

“The concern troll / is such a tool / it tries to seem upset but acts like a fool / 

It lives its life in Momma’s basement / tweeting out what the latest Like meant

Oh concern troll / you can be free / and go outside to see the flowers and trees

hello @discourse-dragon 

in regards to my recent post on Post Traumatic Valentine’s Disorder awareness:

i'm glad you find my art 'edgy'! i always strive to create provocative art that helps educate or inspire.

if you don't follow my blog(s), i doubt you are fully aware of my current mental health condition [poor, but I've been worse]. but to answer your question succinctly, yes.

yes, this money will go to help a person with PTSD [and DID-NOS, and clinical depression]. this person has recently lost his major source of income, and must 'exploit' his own 'bullshit' as an artist. this same person often uses humor and vibrant color to help counter a lot of life's stressors — you'd call them 'triggers'…

nice use of a gun metaphor for discourse on ptsd, btw.

i am really excited to hear you think this art will sell well enough to make a profit! how much do you think that'll be?

my @patreon campaign is starting out slow, but it's really new & i am sure it will pick up steam once i finish my intro video, which i'm a bit distracted from at the moment.

yes, i would love to 'profit' from this, or any of my art! & if everyone could be made more aware of mental health, and would actually support those with mental health issues — before another shooting, another queer bashing, another queer suicide, another war.

i'm fairly open about my trauma[s] and will be posting more about them in the future, nicely tagged, if you have an interest. a few of my recent posts if there's more interest in the trauma than the process of healing:

http://commiepinkofag.org/post/156810677915/29633-30015-diagnoses-brent-pruitt-2017

https://brentpruitt.tumblr.com/post/89040359797/love-that-smirk

http://commiepinkofag.org/post/138566491596/survivor-brent-pruitt-2000

my art is my means of coping and ideally would be a very profitable one. some might even see my survival to this point as the greatest act of revenge against my attackers. but if i could find success through my art, enough to get by day-to-day, then i imagine no more sweeter revenge.

not everyone has the same traumas. not everyone has the same stressors. not everyone copes the same way, or in a way that might even be expected. not everyone is in the same headspace, or even sees a need to 'recover' in the ways 'prescribed'.

i've been to the rodeo, many times, in my many years; i still don't always understand sport, but i get the general idea. i don't need a merit badge in mixed metaphor exchanges with concern trolls, either. but recovery is about trying.

by all means, exploit me on my terms.

regards, @commiepinkofag​ ^such a huge fan of capitalism

This is terrible. I wanna say it’s just that I don’t think sweet is a good flavor to mix in with an otherwise savory beans lettuce and cheese taco, but I think it’s not even that it’s just that the “sweet” is syrup and the spicy is their unreasonable habanero sauce and like, you end up with a mouthful of mostly syrup covered lettuce and you have to step back and take stock of how you got here. This was a bad idea and I can’t wait for it to leave the menu. Wholly undeserved. Completely worthless. Bleah.

It reminds me of how I felt when I used to hang out on the Debate and Discussion forums on penny arcade almost a decade ago. The forum is set up in service of pure reason, with the aim of preventing shitposting or personal attacks, and it was well moderated, too. It was a lot of fun to a much more argumentative me. People were making long and interesting posts with long and interesting arguments about all kinds of stuff.

There was one dude there, though. He was a fairly wealthy dude, by his own admission, and he would involve himself in nearly every debate having to do with economics or start his own debate asking “why do poor people do x.” One would think this would work out okay in a place of Pure Reason, however every single time that poster would do this he’d be treated to a wealth of explanations or counter-arguments and every single time he’d essentially ignore every part of their statement to zero in on something specific or irrelevant that he could build a paper tiger out of and carry the “discussion” forward. He’d never specifically address counterarguments, and he’d never do more than rephrase his original position. This would go on for dozens of pages and inevitably someone would crack and say something slightly out of line and be banned by the moderators, ever present to enforce Pure Reason.

It was astonishingly frustrating, a Sisyphean nightmare of concern trolling, literally enabled by the mandate to enforce a civil space. No one could properly express their frustration and this dude could carry on antagonizing members. He’d balk in the face of someone pointing out his inability to read or respond to counter arguments and would accuse folks trying to talk him down of attempting to derail or change the subject (a Warnable offense). And this would just happen. This dude would never get banned. Or warned. He was the model of politeness.

In so many ways, it’s people like him who get to dictate the terms on which you live. Folks who know exactly how to play the line, exactly how to bend rules into their favor. You’re surrounded by them, and so long as yer authority figures continue to value peace and Pure Reason over an actual concern for what happens to their charges they’ll exist forever.