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Internet Trolls (Their Motivation / Psychology / Psychopathology)

anne_of_28_days

Gone But Not Forgotten
(ACCOUNT RETIRED)
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Oct 30, 2003
Messages
196
i thought we had a thread about trolls, but i couldn't find it.

when does being a troll cross over into mental illness?
being one troll -- probably not
2?
5?

20?
30?
with spreadsheets?
over a period of years?

FYI: it's not me, and it's not happening here.
 
:wtf:

How does trolling a board link with mental illness in any but a incidental way?

That's like asking "When does excessive consumption of breakfast cereal denote schizophrenia."

To which one can only answer, it doesn't, but some schizophrenics may consume a lot of cereal...
 
And what do these numbers you've cited refer to?
 
The Yithian said:
:wtf:

How does trolling a board link with mental illness in any but a incidental way?

I'd guess she is talking about people adopting multiple indentities to cause trouble online and when this may be a symptom of some deeper problem.

It may also have something to do with this (but in a more general way):

www.forteantimes.com/forum/viewtopic.ph ... 311#551311

Possibly.
 
It depends on degree of trollery, I think. People who just shout rude things once in a while and get banned are one thing, but fiendishly clever people who pal up to everyone and stay totally convincing for months before getting more out of hand are another - and a little weird.
 
Emperor said:
The Yithian said:
:wtf:

How does trolling a board link with mental illness in any but a incidental way?

I'd guess she is talking about people adopting multiple indentities to cause trouble online and when this may be a symptom of some deeper problem.

Ok. I'd guess rarely, but we'll never know due to the anonymity granted by the medium, and the inevitably fuzzy and subjective definitions for 'Troll' and 'Mental Illness'
 
The Yithian said:
Ok. I'd guess rarely, but we'll never know due to the anonymity granted by the medium, and the inevitably fuzzy and subjective definitions for 'Troll' and 'Mental Illness'

Indeed - I think James H hit the nail on the head. I would imagine this is less of an issue with actual trolls but more with cyber stalkers who could very easily use one indentity to get chummy with you while using others to atatck you. Acting as a confidente could then give them more information for their attacks, etc. and they could porbbaly extract more info from you. This would also count in real life though if a "friend" was also the person sending one anonymous letters or giving them anonymous phone calls.

Are they mad or sociopathic?
 
James H said:
It depends on degree of trollery, I think. People who just shout rude things once in a while and get banned are one thing, but fiendishly clever people who pal up to everyone and stay totally convincing for months before getting more out of hand are another - and a little weird.
Sociopaths, you mean? People who really don't care about, or for, other people, but take a malicious pleasure in manipulating their emotions and trust?

That would make sense. :(
 
AndroMan said:
James H said:
It depends on degree of trollery, I think. People who just shout rude things once in a while and get banned are one thing, but fiendishly clever people who pal up to everyone and stay totally convincing for months before getting more out of hand are another - and a little weird.
Sociopaths, you mean? People who really don't care about, or for, other people, but take a malicious pleasure in manipulating their emotions and trust?

That would make sense. :(
yes, i suspect this person -- and i don't feel i can go very deeply into it -- is possibly a sociopath. i really don't think troll would even be the correct word for what i'm talking about, but it's the only word i have. the high number of identities this person has would have to consume his life.
i don't see how there could be time for anything else.
 
But wouldn't moderators be aware that all the troll's identities emerged from the same email address?
 
Not all boards are as well moderated as this one, and some of them have nothing to stop people signing up with as many userIDs as they want with little or no verification, or seemingly any way to find if multiple IDs are posting from the same IP address.

Not that I've ever moderated, so I wouldn't know how tricky it is...
 
again said:
But wouldn't moderators be aware that all the troll's identities emerged from the same email address?

Most places don't let you sign up with another account with the same email address (some do though) but we also exclude freemail accounts and all accounts have to be activated by a mod so we check all accounts for anything suspicious. This in itself (while a bit of a pain) heads off most trouble before it starts (and, of course, thems famous last words).

You do have to be careful who you trust online but don't get too paranoid at the same time (or they'll win ;) ).
 
Emperor said:
again said:
But wouldn't moderators be aware that all the troll's identities emerged from the same email address?

Most places don't let you sign up with another account with the same email address (some do though) but we also exclude freemail accounts and all accounts have to be activated by a mod so we check all accounts for anything suspicious. This in itself (while a bit of a pain) heads off most trouble before it starts (and, of course, thems famous last words).

You do have to be careful who you trust online but don't get too paranoid at the same time (or they'll win ;) ).

gotcha. :D
and i've made some deletions to my blog. ;)
 
Hmm. Interesting question. If it's simply a matter of spending all their time online winding up and annoying people 'for a laugh', like some virtual practical joker, that would be a personality disorder rather than mental illness as has been mentioned.

If they use it to deliberately manipulate other people for some other end, the same applies.

If someone uses one identity to launch blistering attacks and others to defend, creating an entire world of their own...well, no worse than having a complete steam train setup in your back garden. :)
 
Our local paper has a blogger who most are convinced is a hoax as he plays the role of an old man who just moans about anything and everything.

He consistently makes blunders and ill-researched statements, claims to be a local celebrity that hears people praising his blogs whenever he walks the streets of the town as is generally a fantasist and almost certainly has alter egos that log on and consistently praise his blogs, sometimes using practically the same words across 3 or 4 names/blogs.

Drives me mad that the paper publishes his rubbish and while I suspected at first he was a construction of the paper themselves his responses come at such disparate hours that I cannot see any office junior putting that much effort into keeping up the ruse.

Which leaves me with the opinion that it is a troll taking his trollery to epic levels and living through an entire alternate persona online.

Or even more terrifyingly that it actually is a real person... :shock:

I certainly think those who take trolling to extreme levels have something not quite right about them, whether it is mental illness or just the lack of something in their real lives.
 
I'm not sure that your example is actually counts as a troll, McAvennie as (unless I misunderstand what you mean by blogging) he's not actually sabotaging someone's site or forum or openly insulting or flaming, sounds more like subversion or pranksterism, playing on the gullibility of, or lack reasearch by your local rag as comedy.
 
Timble2 said:
I'm not sure that your example is actually counts as a troll, McAvennie as (unless I misunderstand what you mean by blogging) he's not actually sabotaging someone's site or forum or openly insulting or flaming, sounds more like subversion or pranksterism, playing on the gullibility of, or lack reasearch by your local rag as comedy.

It's not trollery as such. His blogs though are clearly constructed to cause a reaction and he then proceeds to respond on the comments section like a common house troll would do on a messageboard, clearly saying things just to get a response from people and in turn ongoing attention.
 
As the internet has evolved and subject specialisms have become narrower, there's a definite asylum tendency (in both senses) at large. Some of the geekier ones - and I'm not thinking forteana here - operate like closed orders with their own set of rules that make sense within the paradigm but are essentially barking mad.

One site I'm thinking off is ruled by a despot and employs moderators who take delight in astonishing levels of rudeness. As it's the largest web forum in a traditionally nerdy subject, posters seem unfazed by it. After an extended lurking period thinking 'is it me?' I uncovered an alternative forum of refugees from the former nuthouse with some appalling tales of cyber intimidation and abuse.
Such sites seem to operate like micro-kingdoms with toxic levels of aggression until the viewer disappears or becomes biddable. Some rum folk out there.
 
colpepper1 said:
As the internet has evolved and subject specialisms have become narrower, there's a definite asylum tendency (in both senses) at large. Some of the geekier ones - and I'm not thinking forteana here - operate like closed orders with their own set of rules that make sense within the paradigm but are essentially barking mad.

One site I'm thinking off is ruled by a despot and employs moderators who take delight in astonishing levels of rudeness. As it's the largest web forum in a traditionally nerdy subject, posters seem unfazed by it. After an extended lurking period thinking 'is it me?' I uncovered an alternative forum of refugees from the former nuthouse with some appalling tales of cyber intimidation and abuse.
Such sites seem to operate like micro-kingdoms with toxic levels of aggression until the viewer disappears or becomes biddable. Some rum folk out there.

It can be bizarre and very sad. Another site I use on occasion for another of my interests has a very hardcore clique who run the board, as a fairly irregular poster - despite having been registered far longer than a lot of the members - my comments are usually ignored or ridiculed.

One amusing thing they have is a + and - on each post which allows your online persona to gain lose 'reputation'. After one unnecessarily sarcastic response from one user I pedantically called him/her out on their mistaken use of sarcasm - it was them misreading my point - and since then have noticed that without fail every post I make, no matter how mundane, ends up with at least a -5 or -6.

I couldn't give a toss, I hadn't really noticed the function and have never seen fit to use it myself, but to some of them their internet 'reputation' - and in turn the negative reputation of their perceived enemies - must mean more to them than their reputation in real life.

Bizarre, bizarre way of life.
 
McAvennie_ said:
Our local paper has a blogger who most are convinced is a hoax as he plays the role of an old man who just moans about anything and everything.

He consistently makes blunders and ill-researched statements, claims to be a local celebrity that hears people praising his blogs whenever he walks the streets of the town as is generally a fantasist and almost certainly has alter egos that log on and consistently praise his blogs, sometimes using practically the same words across 3 or 4 names/blogs.

Drives me mad that the paper publishes his rubbish and while I suspected at first he was a construction of the paper themselves his responses come at such disparate hours that I cannot see any office junior putting that much effort into keeping up the ruse.

Which leaves me with the opinion that it is a troll taking his trollery to epic levels and living through an entire alternate persona online.

Or even more terrifyingly that it actually is a real person... :shock:

I certainly think those who take trolling to extreme levels have something not quite right about them, whether it is mental illness or just the lack of something in their real lives.


We had a similar character in the Bristol Evening Post about a year or so ago and he turned out to be a marketing ploy for a new local radio station, so that's one possible explanation.

http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/news/Mik ... ticle.html
 
I've found that most internet forums seem to harbor at least one person from 4chan, which is where all the worst internet trolls seem to come from. I had a friend who put a post in his blog recently about how he hung out at 4chan because he thought he was horrible. Then he looked around and realized, 'Hey! I'm not horrible!' This is sort of the foundation of my thought that internet trolls are largely self-haters.
 
There was an attack on a cycling website a couple of years back. Someone pinched all the passwords and member's details including bank stuff, then came on gloating about everyone being owned and refused all appeals to their better nature. It took the resident computer buffs a few hours to trace the exact location and computer. Turned out to be some private school types who squealed like stuck pigs in case mummy and daddy found out.

There's a lot of Wizard of Oz about the web.
 
One site I'm thinking off is ruled by a despot and employs moderators who take delight in astonishing levels of rudeness. As it's the largest web forum in a traditionally nerdy subject, posters seem unfazed by it. After an extended lurking period thinking 'is it me?' I uncovered an alternative forum of refugees from the former nuthouse with some appalling tales of cyber intimidation and abuse.

Hey, you're on Vintage Synth Explorer too? :lol:
 
I think this belongs here. Richard Bacons tale of the hassle hes endured.

Richard Bacon reveals online abuse
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-17420760

Bacon said the abuse became "deeply personal, obsessive and weird"

Related Stories

Attack of the trolls

BBC Radio 5 live presenter Richard Bacon has revealed that he has suffered two years of anonymous abuse directed at him, his wife and his baby son.

Bacon has complained to the police, and tried to track down his abuser for a BBC Three documentary on abusive "trolls": The Anti-Social Network.

He said he wanted to know how criticism of his work "could go to contacting my family and tweeting about my baby".

He said it was time to stand up to trolls and highlight internet bullying.

"You have got to try and work out where critical comment crosses over into harassment," he said.

"Under freedom of speech people can criticise you and slag you off, it's their right to do that."

But he added that it can become "deeply personal, obsessive and weird."

Bacon, 36, said the line had been crossed when criticism about his radio show turned into abuse about his wife, his mother and five-month-old son Arthur.

'RIP trolls'
The former Blue Peter presenter said he had originally tried to meet the troll but was advised by a psychologist and the police to make an official complaint instead.

Continue reading the main story

Start Quote

For people who don't even understand Facebook in the first place, as well as being upsetting and prolonging their grief, it's confusing”

Bacon on 'RIP trolls'
He said: "What I have been through isn't that bad, really; it's been distressing for my family but personally as a broadcaster it's something I know how to deal with."

Much more disturbing, he said, were the actions of "RIP trolls" who posted offensive messages on tribute sites.

While filming The Anti-Social Network, Bacon met the parents of the late Tom Mullaney, from Bournville, Birmingham, who died aged 15 and whose tribute site was hit by trolls who left offensive messages.

"They see these nice tributes, then they also see these weird sexual, violent comment and imagery," he said.

"For people who don't even understand Facebook in the first place, as well as being upsetting and prolonging their grief, it's confusing."

He said some of the trolls would "themselves be deserving of sympathy - but that doesn't mean we shouldn't tackle them".

"It's time to stand up to them, it's time to either expose them or, if you're a victim, go to the police."

The Anti-Social Network will be shown at 2100 GMT on Monday night on BBC Three.
 
ramonmercado said:
I think this belongs here. Richard Bacons tale of the hassle hes endured.
When I saw somebody had resurrected this thread, I thought they were having a dig at someone on here... ;)

But I also thought of Richard Bacon's tale, which I'd read earlier. And I especially agree with this:
Much more disturbing, he said, were the actions of "RIP trolls" who posted offensive messages on tribute sites.
Not big, not clever, just cowardly and sick. :evil:
 
Look almost anywhere on the Internet and you will likely find negative comments related to whatever content is featured on a webpage. Be it images, video, a news story or a blog, people just love to share their negative feedback. Now, a new study from Canadian psychologists has gone a step beyond the realms of sanity and delved deeper into the mind of the Internet troll.

Erin Buckels, of the University of Manitoba, published a new paper titled “Trolls Just Want To Have Fun” in the journal Personality and Individual Differences. Buckels sought to directly investigate whether people who engage in online trolling are characterized by personality traits that fall under the so-called “Dark Tetrad.” These four traits include Machiavellianism (willingness to manipulate or deceive), narcissism, psychopathy and sadism.

Buckels, along with Paul Trapnell, of the University of Winnipeg, and Delroy Paulhus, of the University of British Columbia, set up a survey of personality inventories matched with “Internet commenting styles” to determine what traits Internet trolls fall under. In essence, the team was trying to psychoanalyze the commenters, reports Kyle Chayka of TIME.

What is likely to be of no surprise to anyone, the study determined that people who like to troll are the most likely to show signs of “sadism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism.”


Read more at http://www.redorbit.com/news/technology ... oeLKfOT.99


There's more at: http://www.redorbit.com/news/technology ... oeLKfOT.99

A very short video below.

http://www.redorbit.com/news/video/tech ... et-021814/
 
Has anybody here ever trolled?

I've never trolled an individual or subject but I do sometimes (on newspaper websites) post up a comment that can be a tasteless joke.

My record is 791 dislikes from 1 comment.
 
Not to my knowledge colinbaker32. Autism has given me various black boxes of emotion and thought: I can see what goes into people when they behave like this and I can see what the results are, but I have no comprehension of the why of it. Same with cruelty - I cannot fathom what the joys of it must be so that you choose to do it. Or is it self-loathing? curiosity? badge-collecting? weight loss?

That said, I am awestruck by 791 for 1! :tongue: Don't tell me what it was or the magic will be gone!
 
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