reporter got trolled
Posted: Wed May 28, 2014 5:45 pm
http://www.americanluxurymag.com/2014/0 ... 4YlISiKEhk
Akin boasted about his exploits on bodybuilding forum Fitmisc.com under the username ghettocandyman. “I made it on the news,” he said in one of his posts (link, google cache). What followed is a torrent of accolades.
To understand how such elaborate trolling is possible, it’s necessary to examine the underground culture of bodybuilding forums. Since steroids are illegal in the United States, users have come to refer to them as ‘creatine’. This new meaning originated on Bodybuilding.com’s forums and is sometimes used as a form of derision since creatine does not have the androgenic-anabolic properties of steroids. Chris thought it would be funny to claim that Elliot Rodger was on creatine in order to gain muscle, and that creatine caused mental side effects normally associated with steroids. The side effects are colloquially known as ‘roid rage’, and creatine does not cause them. The double entendre is something only a veteran troll can understand, and there are thousands of them populating the forums.
What precipitated the reporters’ error is the fact that Hugh Woatmeigh’s Facebook profile seems legitimate, complete with videos from ‘friends’ who mourned his tragic death. Only Hugh never existed. The name Hugh Woatmeigh is a homophone of the popular meme ‘U WOT M8′ which translates to ‘You what, mate?’ The meme is posted frequently on bodybuilding forums and elsewhere to express surprise.
Akin boasted about his exploits on bodybuilding forum Fitmisc.com under the username ghettocandyman. “I made it on the news,” he said in one of his posts (link, google cache). What followed is a torrent of accolades.
To understand how such elaborate trolling is possible, it’s necessary to examine the underground culture of bodybuilding forums. Since steroids are illegal in the United States, users have come to refer to them as ‘creatine’. This new meaning originated on Bodybuilding.com’s forums and is sometimes used as a form of derision since creatine does not have the androgenic-anabolic properties of steroids. Chris thought it would be funny to claim that Elliot Rodger was on creatine in order to gain muscle, and that creatine caused mental side effects normally associated with steroids. The side effects are colloquially known as ‘roid rage’, and creatine does not cause them. The double entendre is something only a veteran troll can understand, and there are thousands of them populating the forums.
What precipitated the reporters’ error is the fact that Hugh Woatmeigh’s Facebook profile seems legitimate, complete with videos from ‘friends’ who mourned his tragic death. Only Hugh never existed. The name Hugh Woatmeigh is a homophone of the popular meme ‘U WOT M8′ which translates to ‘You what, mate?’ The meme is posted frequently on bodybuilding forums and elsewhere to express surprise.