Trolling Tendencies
Trolling Tendencies
( Excerpts from books ” Troll Hunting)
There are two types of trolls, one who use the no-frills, text-based messaging system ‘internet relay chat’ (IRC) and others who are gamers or just stick to social media.
Trolling is an exercise aimed to disrupt and upset as many people as possible, using whatever linguistic or behavioral tools are available. Trolls have two basic rules: nothing should be taken seriously, and if it exists, there is porn of it. Trolls derive amusement from another person’s anger. Mostly sarcastic behavior with fixated.
Some trolls see trolling as having a political objective. Others see it as a way of creating their own entertainment on the internet. Handler of MeepSheep says Some trolls use “social media as an outlet for specific frustrations.”
Writer of ” Troll Hunting” Ginger Gorman says
“With one exception, the trolls I investigated did not troll alone.
Many of them operated in well-organised international syndicates. Trolling has its own culture, language, “lore” and history — most of which is incredibly hard to grasp from the outside.Some of the syndicates even have presidents and vice presidents, much like the way bikie gangs operate.They all know each other and occasionally swap syndicates and allegiances. Sometimes the syndicates work together to achieve a certain aim — like targeting a specific victim.”
Write digs out that trolls are not uneducated. “You can be extremely educated and believe really, really horrible things.”
She concludes that Cyberhate is a complex issue that needs a multifaceted community response. As a bare minimum, law enforcement and social media companies need to do a lot more to keep us safe.
We also need to have some hard conversations as a community.
Most striking in my research is that trolls weren’t born that way. They are products of the society we live in.Often these are kids from violent and neglectful homes. They are left alone on the internet from a young age, imbibing torrents of hate. It’s no wonder they are spat out as angry and isolated young men who want to harm others. This is a parenting story. And we can fix it.