May 12 2009
Trollbots
So it just occurred to me, whilst watching Stephen Colbert (who’d have thought that?), that he must have teams of scrawny interns scouring the internet for every single reference to him that occurs as it occurs and sometimes beforehand. While I of course feel sympathy for those poor kids and their eye strain, I have to admit, getting paid for messing about on the internet sounds rather idyllic.
Of course this led to a discussion of the people who get paid to troll message boards and be obnoxious. Apparrently they exist! It’s not just random 14-year-olds with potty mouths and poor parental supervision! Yes, a decade ago I was doing the same thing, but to think that in this day an age I could possibly make a living by being an immature forum rat?
Yes, my eyes and my soul might shrivel in the meantime. But what artist in this crazy world needs THOSE?