Being a good Internet user rather than a troll can be a learned process

Hate campaigns against individuals, some of which disturbingly includes targeting tribute pages to the deceased, have become an unwelcome by-product of the growth of Internet social networking. The pure violence behind the words and actions of these so-called "trolls" is clearly something to be addressed. Legal powers exist to convict offenders, as with the case of the student who posted racist comments about the critically ill footballer Fabrice Muamba. I also believe that people need to be educated about appropriate behaviour on the Internet.

Public figures have started to speak up about some of the language and threatening behaviour they are subjected to online. There is some excellent writing emerging on the subject. One individual used a social networking site to threaten a Member of Parliament, Louise Mensch, with killing her children - above and beyond what you would imagine the very worst trolls could be capable of.

I urge caution at this point: the Internet phrase "trolling" has a broad definition and is used expansively. Many web forum and social network users will describe others as trolls, purely because they disagree with them. Anyone who has used forums over the years will already be aware of debating against the 'tyranny of the majority', and being classed as a "troll" - itself surely an act of trolling! Some may be described as trolls for constantly repeating the same points, which in fairness may become tiresome. Others may be described as trolls for repeatedly seeking out the same person on a social network in order to hassle them, something which can be more accurately described as stalking.

Trolling is also often described as someone writing with the distinct purpose of gaining a reaction. Using that definition, it could be argued that Mensch herself is a troll. That might be stretching things a little far. At the very worst, I would argue that the time Mensch spends on Twitter could be better spent working for her constituents. Yet however offensive you find Mensch's celebrity politics, there is no excuse for some of the material she has been subjected to. The word "troll" does not begin to capture the significance of it. The poison pen letters are criminal. It is not just celebrities being subjected to it either - a Brighton resident won a court battle to order Facebook to release the names of those who waged an online hate campaign against her.

While those who write the nastiest of material should be dealt with, there is also a risk of misunderstanding the behaviour of those who are yet to realise the Internet is no different to the outside world. Perhaps the most unforgivable fact about Mensch's tormentor is his age. At 60, he should be aware of what is acceptable and what is not.

I recommend a structured plan to improve conduct on the Internet without criminalising the immature, who simply need bringing into line. There should be a simple set of rules, which are brief and are displayed when someone logs on to the Internet for the first time. One one hand, the young person currently sitting in prison over a nasty racist tweet can only reflect on the big mistake he made. On the other hand, there is no way the ranting of a 60 year old man can be dismissed as life inexperience. These are challenges we must overcome.

Twitter, Facebook and the wreckage of past Internet fads

There is no doubting Twitter has captured the imaginations of millions of people throughout the world. It has provided something people never knew they needed, yet made a part of their life. In a way it is much like text messaging, but the result is altogether more public. The great noise of thousands upon thousands of people trying to be noticed means that Twitter is possibly the closest reflection of human nature yet to manifest on the Internet.

I have been inspired by an article about social networking, written by a dear friend and available here because in a way we are all discovering Twitter more or less at the same time. Every Internet phenomenon has a spike of interest, and Twitter is arguably in the middle of its spike. We are all learning how to write as succinct as possible (a skill never over-rated), how to use hashtags, and how to use online applications designed to optimise the Twitter experience.

Unlike my friend, I do not feel that those who I have followed on Twitter and vice-versa are my friends. Often the dynamic is a silent one, that of two interested parties following each other's tweets. It is quite nice when a lot of conversing occurs with someone I have never met though, and better still to find others who have the same outlook of the world.

Twitter seems to be having a growing influence on my Internet activity at precisely the time my interest in Facebook is waning. If you turn back the clock two years, Facebook was making all the headlines. Rightly so; I will never underestimate Facebook - it did more to bring long lost friends and family back to me than any family or school reunion could ever have done. I am literally back in touch with people I have not spoken to in almost 15 years. That is powerful stuff.

The problem with Internet phenomenons is they seem to have a life cycle. When I first joined Facebook, its design was strictly targeted at university students, to socialise outside of lectures online and arrange events. Once it burst through those borders there was no stopping it. Anyone and everyone with an Internet connection signed up, resulting in mass reunions, new friendships, love, new modes of communication, photo sharing, game playing, stalking, abuse and in some cases psychotic behaviour. Oh dear, that last sentence did not quite go to plan.

Facebook's success, you see, is also its problem. It is a fairly open directory, but one which explains in itself why people used to take themselves out of telephone directories back in the days when we used the telephone. There have been some less pleasant episodes. I personally have witnessed good friends of mine, er, shall I say... 'exhibit' themselves too much (and lose their account in the process due to Facebook's rather strict tits, arse and knob policy). Others have used it to call out their enemies - in capital letters usually, and in a manner which would shame a teenager. Other people, who I thought were decent, gave away a few of their rather less palatable political views on there leaving me having to play the diplomat.

Then I know one or two people who simply could not hack the brutal nature of Facebook. I know Facebook is supposed to be 'not real' (tell that to those who have been reunited with old pals) but I still wonder how some people can be so unemotional about pruning their friends lists, sending a few 'transitional' friends to the cyber scrapyard, once they decide they went a bit too far during their (early) 'adding phase'. If I have ever removed anyone, it was only because they were intolerable. It would not be possible for me to unemotionally remove someone, for behind the PC that is a real person. Being on the receiving end of it is hard, but I am big enough to handle that, as well as the multitude of other spirit-crushing issues the website can create. Many cannot, and after a hissy fit take themselves off forever.

Whatever the case, for me Facebook has become a bit of a haven for exhibitionists and photographs of them gurning at parties. For every friend I seem to lose on Facebook via the graveyard procedure summarised above, I gain one on Twitter. My Twitter activity increases by the day; my Facebook activity declines. The only reason I persevere with Facebook is because that it where my closest friends reside - Twitter remains too wordy for some. Ultimately though, Facebook has peaked for me. Any old friends interested in signing up have already done so.

Yet I can already see the first signs of a similar downturn in Twitter. The problem is when something becomes popular the bulk of the public get on board, but also so do the bulk of the idiots. By idiots, I mean the sort of people who managed to get a topic about beating up women 'trending' a few weeks ago. (Trending is a reference to a topic which is being 'tweeted' a lot - Twitter has created a new vocabulary.) Also, I have identified some other potential problems.

I have already witnessed people trying to gain attention by being controversial. Others flood the timeline with tweet after tweet of nonsense. There is also the feeling at times of being ignored, especially when someone with not a great deal of followers ignores a direct message. Then there are the numerous spammers, who follow you because you mentioned something in a tweet vaguely related to something they happen to sell. Then there are those unscrupulous sorts who follow to get a follow, then withdraw their follow once they have got their follow. In short, Twitter is in danger of going bad as well.

As things stand I am still loving the Twitter experience. However, as with Facebook, those running Twitter will do well to keep in mind Myspace, Napster and other examples which are still around but are also thought of in terms of Internet history. I still remember the time my Internet searches were carried out using Alta Vista, on my Netscape Navigator browser. How times change.