
An analysis of Internet trolling and why they do it - thepinchandzoom
http://www.thepinchandzoom.com/blog/2015/4/24/internet-trolling
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b6
Years ago, I was seriously involved in trolling, here's why: some people
behaved in ways that I found painful, and I wanted to be as ugly to them as
they were to me.

Someone actually beat another person in the face over who would get to buy
Tickle Me Elmo or the latest Harry Potter book? I found stuff like that really
disgusting, and I wanted them to feel disgusted, too. I wanted them to think
about how disgusting they were.

Over the years, as I got a little better control over my mind and feelings, I
stopped behaving like that. I realize now that my behavior was not
constructive, and I'm sorry. But I couldn't just know what was at the end of
that road without walking it.

I think I'm extremely un-sadistic. If anything, I'm unusually empathetic. And
I don't enjoy, much less need, attention. If anything, I'm unusually motivated
by my internal self-assessment. I know from times when other members of the
troll gang I was in would break character that I'm not the only (former) troll
of this type.

There seems to be an idea flying around lately that trolling is just a safe,
cowardly way of being sadistic, but I find that really simplistic. In some
cases trolling seems closer to a weird kind of performance art by people with
surplus brain cycles, motivation, initiative, and creativity.

~~~
caminante
I like your "performance art" comparison.

The other day, a user posted a topic in a sub-forum I follow. I cited the sub-
forum's criteria and recommended posting elsewhere. The admins agreed, killing
the post. The user responded with floral appreciation for the admins
stewardship and bowed out.

Detecting something was off, I checked the user's post-history. I discovered
he'd pivoted into this elaborate troll routine, crafting well-made
Photoshopped summary screenshots, baiting the admins into commenting, then
parsing and sub-parsing their comments with disregard for truth, all the while
he cross-posted his progress with a "counter-culture" sub-forum to get their
approval.

It struck me as a lonely exercise for him, however, it seemed like he was
seeking an outlet for his creativity. Looking back, it's almost as if what
happened didn't even matter, he could/would run the same routine.

~~~
brudgers
Flaming is often a creative exercise because it can mean writing with full
consciousness of its effect on the audience. A lot of flaming behavior is
generated in an effort to create interesting discussions in the midst of
cliche or superficial analysis. In many communities flame wars are some of the
most interesting content and that's why it becomes an acceptable pattern.

One of the things I love about HN is that there are so many _Really Fucking
Smart People_ ® with something interesting to say that flaming [along with
inside jokes] constitutes some of the least interesting content. Indeed HN has
even suppressed snark.

------
spinchange
As an aside, It seems like the definition of trolling has grown to encompass
all manner of uncivil or argumentative behavior online, but it used to be more
narrow than that.

The ambiguity of text + the physical separation from others opens the door for
all manner of 'bad' behavior, but also for more playful stuff like pranks,
practical jokes, and garden variety "teasing". I think the April Fools culture
on the web is an outgrowth of this, and from human behavior generally. Another
example would be GroupOn's press releases. Or more locally, your friend's fake
life announcement on Facebook.

This is all different from people being incendiary and rude for the sake of
their own attention or venting needs. It's just regrettable this scales better
than someone pretending to argue something stupid as a joke for the amusement
of others.

------
jgalt212
A portion of the reason why trolls exist is for the same reason fighting
exists in hockey. It's a valid method of self-policing. There are so many
people peddling so many forms of b.s. on the internet, that there has to be a
mechanism for calling them on it.

Now, that's the highest form of trolling. Many trolls are just nasty lonely
people.

------
reitanqild
Older study with classifications
[http://www.flamewarriorsguide.com/](http://www.flamewarriorsguide.com/)

~~~
brudgers
The Great thing about the Flame Warriors is it captures trolling, XKD 386'ing,
and many other reasons people write for effect. It captures the idea that
people write for sport and that the simplest form is little but gamesmanship.

This is why gamification can work to reduce bad behavior. It encourages people
to write within community standards and provides incentives for the community
to discuss, publicise and enforce standards. Without gamification, flaming and
banning are about the limits of the arsenal against bad behavior.

------
formulaT
I didn't expect to like this article, but the author did a good job of
describing trolling patterns that were clearly not simply posting opposing
views. I also liked this inspirational quote:

 _If you 're out there trying to build, write or draw something, be proud of
that - it's not easy. Doing something means actually trying and not wasting
your life watching repeats of Friends on Comedy Central, an example that is
not at all autobiographical._

------
james-skemp
FYI, the share icons sit on top of the text on a Nexus 7. Makes reading the
article difficult when you can't easily make out the first word or so of every
line.

------
Hobotron1
It's something to do when my IBS flares up.

------
fukupayme55
Hmm they should have performed the analysis on the HN posts. We have a series
of troll bots - a couple who randomly post recommending Rust and Go as the
saviour to any posted problem or query, one bot occasionally posts claiming to
know all about IT security, another had a moment of bingo success and then
posts job wisdom pearls, a mixed bag really!

~~~
brudgers
Provocative criticism implying conspiracy and unsupported by evidence.

~~~
fukupayme55
And there is one who always posts the contrary point of view - argues for the
sake of it - "no I don't they say". They were quick to respond just now!

~~~
brudgers
Just a professional foul to break up the play.

