ROC Polls Troll Rochester

Some+of+the+tweets+were+mild+and+good-natured+while+others+had+a+truly+malicious+nature

Hope Bobbitt

Some of the tweets were mild and good-natured while others had a truly malicious nature

Confirmed: ROC Polls is run by jellyfish.

This is the only logical way this inexcusable, hurtful, ignorant display could have possibly come about. Obviously, spineless, barely dexterous, cowardly creatures, who lack the brain function for basic humanity or morals, have combined their efforts to create this ridiculous “joke account.”

In all seriousness, though this may have started as a joke, a belief many of its supporters still hold fast to, it’s become a hub for malicious comments to fester and malicious commenters to essentially harass and bully various groups and people from behind a wall of anonymity.

Evidently, the pollsters receive permission from everyone they put on blast (which supposedly makes it okay), but here’s the twist: to disagree is to be a whiney chump who can’t take a joke, but letting them post whatever harmful slander they’ve concocted makes the subject the laughing stock of the whole town. People seem all too willing to overlook the insanity that is ROC Polls, insisting that it’ll all blow over and there’s no real harm done, but try telling that to the kids who find their public humiliation and degradation to be the talk of the town. The account moderators are savage too, commenting on gender, character, race, sexuality, intelligence, stature, masculinity, and anything else that could exploit others and earn an ignorant laugh.

On top of that, the questions are worded in a way that makes it obvious which answer (usually the most disgusting or dubious) will award followers the least amount of hate. There was a brief, hopeful, stint at the end of October when the account was considering deactivation. Unfortunately, due an overwhelming objection from their followers, they’ve decided to keep going.

The account has no dearth of offensive remarks that range from blatant racism, sexism, homophobia and rape jokes to things that fall under a category all their own, but surely make even Lucifer himself embarrassed for the dodgey morality of these insufferably ignorant contributors.

What’s really sad is, the idea behind the account isn’t bad. In fact, the idea was pretty funny, but they’ve taken it too far and the students of the Rochester community have let them. So when it’s their turn to be ridiculed, perhaps they’ll laugh just as hard as they are now. When it’s their friend being dragged through the mud, they’ll be just as silent as they are now. After all, it’s worth it to maintain their social status. As everyone knows, not being seen as a killjoy obviously trumps character and will be the most important thing in retrospect.

It’s hard to say what’s more disappointing: the fact that this account is still running, or the fact that the students of Rochester allow it to continue by supporting what is essentially the perpetuation of harmful stereotypes and blatant bullying. Hopefully either the students responsible will come to their senses, or some brave soul will listen to his conscience instead of the overwhelming peer pressure and decide enough is enough. Until then, if anyone is looking to lose all faith in the humanity of this town’s youth, you know where to look.