

Trolls just want to have fun. (Trolling likely manifestation of everyday sadism) - mxfh
https://www.academia.edu/6016545/Trolls_just_want_to_have_fun

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moron4hire
This is surprising? Did the authors never tease anyone? But there are multiple
shades of trolling, and I wouldn't necessarily call all of them "sadism". When
I take a contrary opinion on a friend's Facebook post to draw them into making
a fool of themselves because I already know their opinion is not based on
logic (even if I necessarily agree with their end decision), that's not
sadism, that's just teasing.

But I have noticed a trend in recent years that people have gone so far into
anti-bullying being their pet issue of the year, that they are quick to call
any form of teasing "bullying".

I had a friend who, for years, hated that people teased him but never said
anything about it. I mean, we all teased each other, it's what friends do.
Stuff like, whenever he'd try to show off with climbing on monkey bars (at age
30, mind you), I'd call him a monkey (not attention whore, mind you, which was
what he really was), and that would upset him. He even engaged in the teasing
of us, but couldn't take it himself. He said we bullied him and that we were
not good people and must hate him. We assured him that we liked him a lot. He
refused to believe it. We are not friends anymore.

The general lesson of the story: cut the wilting flowers out of the garden.
Teasing is fine, and if someone can't take it, leave them to their own
devices.

