Written by: Ping Tsai<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Edited by: Priyanka Krishna<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The house burst into laughter as delegates made supporting speeches for the creation of an \u201cOK-BOOMER Council.\u201d Several delegates joined the fun, but many complained that there has been little progress in passing resolutions.
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Over the course of four days, delegates have worked tirelessly to represent their countries. Yet, as the conference progressed, multiple committees have encountered the problem of \u201ctrolling:\u201d the act of making off-topic or inappropriate remarks during debate. Several delegates have described trolling as \u201cthe most fun\u201d or as \u201cnecessary to keep delegates away from boredom.\u201d
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Ophelia Burchell (delegate of Madagascar of GA6, Australian International School of Malaysia) thought that \u201cthe funniest part of the conference so far was when Equatorial Guinea roasted Kuwait and referred to the dead whale in the audience.\u201d Similarly, Fred Fang (delegate of Bangladesh of GA1, Yew Chung International School of Shanghai-Pudong) said that his chairs allowed delegations to submit \u201cmeme amendments,\u201d which are characterized by irrelevant content or funny acronyms; he described one time when a delegate \u201ctried to use prisoners in order to test out artificial intelligence.\u201d
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However, other delegates were concerned that excessive trolling would distort the purpose of debate. In the HRC, Dylan Yu (delegate of Ukraine of HRC, The British School Manila) remembered that some delegates \u201centered different committees and pretended to be Ireland.\u201d In some more extreme cases, some delegates believe that their committees were constantly trapped in the cycle of trolling: \u201cAfter the first resolution, everything is just a troll,\u201d Centauri Liu (delegate of Switzerland of GA4, International School of Beijing) suggested. Anngu Chang (delegate of China of SC, Pacific American School), communicating his concern, cited trolling as an obstacle to maintaining a serious discussion. He explained that \u201calthough there was not a lot of trolling on the first day, as it goes to the second and the third day, what you notice is that everyone is doing it. It\u2019s really hard to be serious.\u201d
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Even though \u201cwork hard, play hard\u201d may be a life philosophy of many delegates, trolling could become a problem if it has gone too far. To ensure productivity and preserve the meaning of MUN \u2014 practicing diplomacy, enhancing critical thinking, and improving public speaking \u2014 delegates and chairs must be aware of the extent to which \u201chaving fun\u201d is appropriate.
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Written by: Ping Tsai Edited by: Priyanka Krishna The house burst into laughter as delegates made supporting speeches for the creation of an \u201cOK-BOOMER Council.\u201d Several delegates joined the fun, but many complained that there has been little progress in passing resolutions. Over the course of four days, delegates have worked tirelessly to represent their … <\/p>\n