AMES, Iowa -- Time magazine's Joel Stein will discuss how internet trolling infects our real-life interactions, including politics, in an upcoming talk at Iowa State University.
"The Age of Trolls" will be at 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 27, in the Memorial Union Great Hall. The free, public talk is part of ISU's National Affair series: "When American Values Are in Conflict."
Best known for the weekly humor column he has written since 1998, Stein also has authored 15 cover stories for Time magazine — most recently, "Why We're Losing the Internet to a Culture of Hate," for the Aug. 18 issue. Stein wrote, "Trolls are turning social media and comment boards into a giant locker room in a teen movie, with towel-snapping racial epithets and misogyny." And, as cyberculture grows meaner and more threatening, "expressing socially unacceptable views ... is becoming more socially acceptable" to the point that "troll culture may be affecting the way nontrolls treat one another."
In addition to sharing the horrific messages he's received personally on Twitter and email, Stein will share his perspective on how we can reverse the trend of trolling by demanding more of our social media companies, not feeding the trolls, reporting abuse and using additional techniques.
Stein started his career as a writer and researcher for Martha Stewart Living magazine, and joined Time as a staff writer in 1997. He also contributes frequently to national television and print media, including The New Yorker, GQ, Bloomberg Businessweek, Esquire and Wired. He taught a humor writing class at Princeton University, and wrote a column for the Los Angeles Times for four years. Stein earned bachelor's and master's degrees from Stanford University.
Stein's talk is co-sponsored by the College of Human Sciences, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication, psychology department, sociology department, National Affairs series and the Committee on Lectures, which is funded by Student Government. More information is available online at ISU Lectures Program, or by calling 515-294-9935.
