Internet Trolls Really Are Horrible People

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Internet Trolls Really Are Horrible People

Postby seemslikeadream » Sat Feb 15, 2014 8:25 pm

Internet Trolls Really Are Horrible People

Narcissistic, Machiavellian, psychopathic, and sadistic.

By Chris Mooney

The Internet is sadists' playground.
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In the past few years, the science of Internet trollology has made some strides. Last year, for instance, we learned that by hurling insults and inciting discord in online comment sections, so-called Internet trolls (who are frequently anonymous) have a polarizing effect on audiences, leading to politicization, rather than deeper understanding of scientific topics.

That’s bad, but it’s nothing compared with what a new psychology paper has to say about the personalities of trolls themselves. The research, conducted by Erin Buckels of the University of Manitoba and two colleagues, sought to directly investigate whether people who engage in trolling are characterized by personality traits that fall in the so-called Dark Tetrad: Machiavellianism (willingness to manipulate and deceive others), narcissism (egotism and self-obsession), psychopathy (the lack of remorse and empathy), and sadism (pleasure in the suffering of others).

It is hard to underplay the results: The study found correlations, sometimes quite significant, between these traits and trolling behavior. What’s more, it also found a relationship between all Dark Tetrad traits (except for narcissism) and the overall time that an individual spent, per day, commenting on the Internet.

In the study, trolls were identified in a variety of ways. One was by simply asking survey participants what they “enjoyed doing most” when on online comment sites, offering five options: “debating issues that are important to you,” “chatting with others,” “making new friends,” “trolling others,” and “other.” Here’s how different responses about these Internet commenting preferences matched up with responses to questions designed to identify Dark Tetrad traits:
Image
E.E. Buckels et al, "Trolls just want to have fun," Personality and Individual Differences, 2014.


To be sure, only 5.6 percent of survey respondents actually specified that they enjoyed “trolling.” By contrast, 41.3 percent of Internet users were “non-commenters,” meaning they didn’t like engaging online at all. So trolls are, as has often been suspected, a minority of online commenters, and an even smaller minority of overall Internet users.

The researchers conducted multiple studies, using samples from Amazon’s Mechanical Turk but also of college students, to try to understand why the act of trolling seems to attract this type of personality. They even constructed their own survey instrument, which they dubbed the Global Assessment of Internet Trolling, or GAIT, containing the following items:

I have sent people to shock websites for the lulz.

I like to troll people in forums or the comments section of websites.

I enjoy griefing other players in multiplayer games.

The more beautiful and pure a thing is, the more satisfying it is to corrupt.

Yes, some people actually say they agree with such statements. And again, doing so was correlated with sadism in its various forms, with psychopathy, and with Machiavellianism. Overall, the authors found that the relationship between sadism and trolling was the strongest, and that indeed, sadists appear to troll because they find it pleasurable. “Both trolls and sadists feel sadistic glee at the distress of others,” they wrote. “Sadists just want to have fun ... and the Internet is their playground!”

The study comes as websites, particularly at major media outlets, are increasingly weighing steps to rein in trollish behavior. Last year Popular Science did away with its comments sections completely, citing research on the deleterious effects of trolling, and YouTube also took measures to rein in trolling.

But study author Buckels actually isn’t sure that fix is a realistic one. “Because the behaviors are intrinsically motivating for sadists, comment moderators will likely have a difficult time curbing trolling with punishments (e.g., banning users),” she said by email. “Ultimately, the allure of trolling may be too strong for sadists, who presumably have limited opportunities to express their sadistic interests in a socially-desirable manner.”
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Re: Internet Trolls Really Are Horrible People

Postby jakell » Sun Feb 16, 2014 9:52 am

This is a refreshingly level headed look at 'trolling'

I say this because I've seen the word thrown around quite carelessly, to the point where I started a dedicated thread about this on my previous forum. I started off by giving my opinion of what a troll is and what it is not.

IMO, real trolls can do a considerable amount of psychological damage, at the very minimum, they can seriously disrupt the function of a forum. Because of this, I believe that the watering down of the term through careless usage should be avoided as much as possible.
" Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism"
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Re: Internet Trolls Really Are Horrible People

Postby jcivil » Sun Feb 16, 2014 11:08 am

Troll wars.

Battle for conception.

All the presidents and media figures in my little life seem to be trolls. (Not to mention the unholy trinity of Linbaugh Hamity and O'hummous)

W and Rove and Cheney and Hu Jin Douche are trolls (who pay trolls)

So, don't lots of us do battle on the fields of the interwebs?

Don't we confront the stupid, which to them is trolling.

(I'm the troll, I'm the troll!)

What is it if I load a FBI guys computer up with kiddie filth links and images and a trail of his prurient history. What if he kills himself when all his feddy feddy friends desert him? Is that trolling or something more? Am I then wrong, or right to stop a uniformed douche? (And the investigation into, um....) (BTSL: Is it wrong to visit precincts regularly to collect genetic materials from filth, collate samples, and save for later use? Is that trolling?

Hate the useless needling trolls, but let not this study stop you from the necessary trolling we must all do in the war on moron.

You must be harder and softer than your opposition. Not just softer.
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Re: Internet Trolls Really Are Horrible People

Postby mulebone » Mon Feb 17, 2014 2:21 pm

Cool, psychologists invent new mental illness in effort to keep rest of society from realizing that psychologists invent more mental illnesses than they cure. I suspect it's because, deep inside, psychologists realize that without their bullshit shoveling career and their bullshit laden DSM and all its equally badly written sequels, they'd only be qualified to flip burgers and mumble "Do ya want fries wid dat?"

It's either that or "trolling" is seen as "horrible" because so many of us are now isolated shut-ins carrying on imaginary social interactions while we are really still isolated & alone, that we now need equally imaginary boogie men to populate our imaginary Interlife.
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Betty Coltrane she did crawl.
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Re: Internet Trolls Really Are Horrible People

Postby jakell » Mon Feb 17, 2014 2:41 pm

mulebone » Mon Feb 17, 2014 6:21 pm wrote:Cool, psychologists invent new mental illness in effort to keep rest of society from realizing that psychologists invent more mental illnesses than they cure. I suspect it's because, deep inside, psychologists realize that without their bullshit shoveling career and their bullshit laden DSM and all its equally badly written sequels, they'd only be qualified to flip burgers and mumble "Do ya want fries wid dat?"

It's either that or "trolling" is seen as "horrible" because so many of us are now isolated shut-ins carrying on imaginary social interactions while we are really still isolated & alone, that we now need equally imaginary boogie men to populate our imaginary Interlife.


I don't see trolling as anything particularly new, just regular human misanthropy powered (considerably) by a new medium.
" Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism"
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Re: Internet Trolls Really Are Horrible People

Postby mulebone » Mon Feb 17, 2014 4:20 pm

But isn't labeling it as mental illness new?

I'm not up on the esteemed pronouncements of psychologists. I don't particularly care. I do wonder what the end game is though. What is the idealized view of human happiness that they're helping us attain with their quasi-scientific meanderings? I work with this client, I'll call him J. J's interests involve vocalizing continuously in something that sounds like a cross between Curly & Popeye. It can be amusing at first but, after 14 hours of it, you just want to super glue his mouth shut. He also likes to let out ear piercing shrieks, run down the hall at full speed kicking himself in the ass all the way and slam KERBLAM right into the wall. Again, this can also be amusing, for a while...
But J's absolute favorite activity is masturbation. I can't tell how many times I've glanced over at J sitting peacefully on the couch, one hand on his wedding tackle, his other hand shoved up his ass, with the biggest, stupidest, most shit eating grin on his face. I have never seen anyone look happier, ever, anywhere.

So, if happiness is what psychology is shooting for, then maybe they should arrange it so all of us can spend the rest of our lives getting 3 free square meals a day while we undergo a constant stream of genital & anal stimulation.

Because that whole drug kick they're on isn't working. That lithium is some sublime shit in the right dosage buddy. Nothing like 23 hour a day naps for a year followed by the onset of Parkinson like tremors. Personally, I'd rather jerk off.
Well Robert Moore went down heavy
With a crash upon the floor
And over to his thrashin' body
Betty Coltrane she did crawl.
She put the gun to the back of his head
And pulled the trigger once more
And blew his brains out
All over the table.
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Re: Internet Trolls Really Are Horrible People

Postby jakell » Mon Feb 17, 2014 4:38 pm

I can't see the part where it is labelled as a mental illness, just that it is an extension of known personality traits.
" Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism"
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Re: Internet Trolls Really Are Horrible People

Postby freemason9 » Mon Feb 17, 2014 10:25 pm

How in the world did they conduct this "research," since trolls are usually anonymous?
The real issue is that there is extremely low likelihood that the speculations of the untrained, on a topic almost pathologically riddled by dynamic considerations and feedback effects, will offer anything new.
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Re: Internet Trolls Really Are Horrible People

Postby American Dream » Mon Feb 17, 2014 11:03 pm

On confronting hateful trolls:

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Re: Internet Trolls Really Are Horrible People

Postby jakell » Tue Feb 18, 2014 7:53 am

freemason9 » Tue Feb 18, 2014 2:25 am wrote:How in the world did they conduct this "research," since trolls are usually anonymous?


After finding these folks to be a thorn in my side for years, I decided to turn the tables and start to 'study' them**, I have an interest in psychology so this did not feel particularly unnatural.

Even though it's nice to be able to connect a few details and context to an internet poster, it's not strictly necessary, and you just need to look for consistencies connected to a username, sock puppets complicate this, but people make mistakes if you watch closely.

So it's basically like a 'blind' study, and you just look a Troll A and Troll B etc. They can lead you down rabbitholes so one needs a fairly cool head and an exit strategy.

**My oft repeated saw from my landscape gardening days is.. "if something is ugly, and you can't shift it, make a feature of it"
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Re: Internet Trolls Really Are Horrible People

Postby Zombie Glenn Beck » Wed Feb 19, 2014 1:39 am

American Dream » Mon Feb 17, 2014 11:03 pm wrote:On confronting hateful trolls:



I dont think this dude knows what "dont feed the trolls" means. It doesnt mean silencing yourself completely, it just means not giving trolls the reaction they want.
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Re: Internet Trolls Really Are Horrible People

Postby jakell » Wed Feb 19, 2014 7:07 am

This guy has it more or less correct IMO, although the comment "On confronting hateful trolls:" is incorrect and seems an other example of manypat throwaway phrases use to excuse short or longwinded copypasta..

He's starting at square one, which is basically looking at what trolls are, the confronting comes after this', and what he's concentrating on is the oft repeated phrase "don't feed the trolls" (ie, don't interact or confront), which I'm not happy with either, which assues there is a blanket way of dealing with them.

With some trolls, by not feeding them. they are given space to do their thing, and also to make egregious remarks that go unchallenged, and a plethora of unchallenged remarks tend to stick after a while.
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Re: Internet Trolls Really Are Horrible People

Postby Sounder » Wed Feb 19, 2014 11:52 am

As Paul Feyerabend wrote in Against Method; (something like) What is a deeply held belief to one person may be propaganda to another.

RI, in the best of times is a spot where people of the heart and people of the intellect can try to interact and put a check on less productive aspects of our variously contrived unbalanced perspectives toward reality (nature).

In the worst of times it is merely another place to develop lists of friends and foes.

We had a poster here called C2W? who helped the board maintain a level of civility between potentially partisan camps.

I disagreed with her on most substantial points, yet I love her very much and miss her greatly.
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Re: Internet Trolls Really Are Horrible People

Postby slimmouse » Wed Feb 19, 2014 1:44 pm

So many comments above about trolls that I can sympathise with.

I think sympathy is the operative word here.

@Sounder - I hold the same opinion about C2W. What I came to truly admire about her( for all our differences of opinion, )is that firstly, you truly got her opinion. But more importantly for me at least, through her opinion and commentary she taught me what I consider to be truly valuable lessons.

Meanwhile, heres one of my fave episodes from Mark Windows of TPV.

Who are the infiltrators and who is infiltrated?

Fantastic viewing for any real riggies left in our midst.

Should leave plenty of discussion room for those interested in the trolls in every area of our existence.

http://www.thepeoplesvoice.tv/windows-o ... n-special/
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Re: Internet Trolls Really Are Horrible People

Postby norton ash » Wed Feb 19, 2014 1:53 pm

Some of us are angry and fed up, and can be terribly mean. It's quite fun to argue, though. Love is the answer.
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