Children are often fascinated with the stories about the trolls of Norse mythology. These creatures were believed to live in homes dug in the earth and they were not so much evil as often misunderstood. That does not explain the Internet definition of trolls as people who write blogs or tweets and meet on Face Book or in chat rooms to spread misinformation and libellous comment. To be accused of being a troll today is more of an honorific than a slander.
While most of the trouble-making trolls we read are bloggers, they are relatively immune to legal action because most people do not care what they say. They are usually people with excessive amounts of ego and they tend to slander themselves more than anyone they write about. Those who understand Canada’s Supreme Court definition of libel, in the context of the Internet, know enough to protect ourselves when showing up someone as a blithering idiot. There is also a wider range of fair comment in political commentary that makes political blogs more interesting—and less likely to end up in litigation.
That is also why this blog has so much fun with Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s hair. We remain somewhat aghast at the man’s vanity but cannot deny that that this blog gets more hits through Google on the subject of his hair than anything else discussed. It also humbles us when we are so vain as to think we are providing depth for the voters.
This blog started out four years ago as an alternative to writing another book to gather dust with a literary agent. We have now written the equivalent of four good sized novels in this blog and had fun in the process. It has become an interesting hobby. The wife thinks it is an obsession but she is entitled to her hobbies. This one is mine.
Babel-on-the-Bay has a strong following. We gathered a sizeable new audience during the Ontario and federal Liberal leadership races and many have stayed with us. It also explains the heavy readership in Ottawa and Toronto. We find that readership suffers when we talk about Babel politics but you have to admit that Babel’s mayor is not half as much fun to write about as Toronto’s Rob Ford.
While the idea of being thought of as a troll is amusing, please be assured that we are only sharing some of our experience during a lifetime in politics. We only hope it continues to be as much fun to read as we have writing it. If all politicians were perfect as they think they are, we would have to find something different to write about.
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Copyright 2013 © Peter Lowry
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