Internet troll

An internet troll is a person who intentionally upsets others in social media forums. The troll’s actions, called trolling, are generally understood to be undertaken to cause consternation. Many post inflammatory or malicious comments on social media as a means of gaining attention and generating comments. The use of the word trolling is believed to refer to the action of fishing by trailing a baited line behind a boat. References to online trolls date to about 1992, and the origin of the reference, whether to the act of fishing or the monsters of folklore, remains uncertain.

Trolling has been found to do great harm to many victims. Targets become depressed and, in some cases, suicidal. Researchers have found that trolls know the effect they have on their victims but do not feel remorse or responsibility. They are generally less empathetic and more likely to enjoy causing others pain.

In the 2010s and 2020s, trolling became increasingly widespread and menacing with the revelation that foreign governments were using so-called troll farms to influence elections. Organized campaigns using multiple accounts and bots became capable of putting forth misinformation at scale that was designed to provoke conflict and polarize online discussions. Additionally, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) allowed content such as memes and videos targeting individuals and groups to be produced faster and easier than ever before, which further increased the reach and impact of trolling campaigns. 

Background

While the internet, blogging, and some social media platforms date to the late twentieth century, social media channels did not gain widespread popularity until the early twenty-first century. The first to enjoy widespread use was Facebook, which Mark Zuckerberg and associates initially launched for Harvard students in 2004. When it opened to the public, Facebook quickly gained members who used it to post status updates and follow what their friends were doing. While Facebook initially trailed behind Myspace, which was the most popular social media platform at that time, it soon surpassed it among users. YouTube debuted in 2005, allowing people to post and watch videos and comment on them. Many people established themselves as “influencers,” posting fashion and makeup tutorials; others established video game channels.

The next major advance was the 2007 launch of Twitter (rebranded as X in 2023), an online microblogging service. The messages users could post, called tweets, were limited to 140 characters for most users. Within a few years, it became the platform of choice for many celebrities. Politicians also recognized its value as a means to reach people, in particular young adults who might not normally follow politics. The platform additionally became known as a source of breaking news as people began posting images and updates of events.

After the photo-sharing platform Instagram launched in 2010, ultimately gaining popularity as well, image messaging app Snapchat debuted in 2011 and emerged as a favorite among teens and young adults. These were soon joined by TikTok, which became widely popular starting in 2018. These and other social media platforms continued to attract regular followers throughout the world over subsequent years, particularly during societal upheavals such as the COVID-19 pandemic that began in 2020 and forced many people to physically isolate amid efforts to control the spread of the virus.

Overview

Psychologists have theorized that internet trolls exist and thrive because of the disinhibition effect. This means they are made bolder by the anonymity of online interaction. While they might not say or do something in a face-to-face encounter, they do not feel inhibited online. This may manifest as toxic disinhibition, in which they are rude, critical, angry, and sometimes threatening, or as benign disinhibition, which involves sharing personal information, including secret fears, or being unusually generous.

Several factors contribute to this disinhibition. These include anonymity, invisibility, asynchronicity, solipsistic introjection, dissociative imagination, and minimizing authority.

Anonymity means individuals can hide behind fake names and images. Even if they use their real identity, strangers online only know what they reveal. When individuals can separate their actions from their real-world selves and identities, they lose inhibitions. They may feel less vulnerable about sharing, or feel free to act in any way they wish, because these acts cannot be connected to their physical lives. When they act in socially unacceptable ways, for example, being aggressive or hostile, they can tell themselves that this behavior is not really them. This is called dissociation.

Invisibility allows people to drift through chat threads, message boards, and other online platforms without anyone knowing they are there, aside from a few experts, such as webmasters who may be watching traffic. They can post messages or send emails while remaining physically invisible. This invisibility can embolden people. They can remain in the dark about how the other person is responding because they cannot see frowns, head shaking, or other signs of disapproval. Therefore, they do not have to be restrained by such cues.

Asynchronicity refers to the time lag that often exists between communications. An email may be followed up hours or days later; a message on a thread might generate a response weeks or years after it is posted. People can become disinhibited because they are not faced with an immediate reaction. Some people use this deliberately when they post something very emotional, hostile, or personal, because it feels safer than dealing with others in real time.

Solipsistic introjection is an effect that text communication sometimes has on people. They assign characteristics to a person online, which might include physical characteristics, vocal qualities, and mannerisms. This online person becomes a person in the individual’s head, and the individual may incorporate the online person into their imagination. This might include fantasies and imagined conversations. Sometimes people simply read posts made by others and hear them, in their heads, in their own voices. This reduces inhibitions because they may feel they are talking to themselves.

Sometimes people dissociate from the online persona they have created. This dissociative imagination means they see the other character as living in a sort of dream world, which allows them to avoid taking responsibility for what the character is doing.

Minimizing authority refers to the anonymity of online interaction. Wealth, race, gender, status, and other factors are negligible, at least initially, online. Everyone starts on a level playing field, although one’s actions may raise one’s status. For example, good writing skills may help one communicate ideas more clearly, which can influence others. People also feel that if others are their equals, they can say whatever they wish, without being inhibited by an authority figure of any kind.

Internet trolls generally share similar motives. Some are bored and looking for entertainment. Some need attention, even if it is negative. Some people feel they are missing out on some success and enjoy trying to bring others down, especially those they feel are successful. Trolls generally have low levels of affective empathy. This is the ability to share another’s emotional experience. Many trolls have psychopathic traits and high levels of cognitive empathy, or the ability to predict how another person will feel. This means they understand what hurts people but do not care.

Some researchers have suggested that trolls could be treated by increasing positive reinforcement. By rewarding pro-social behavior, they have argued, they can increase the frequency of good actions. At the same time, some countries explored or even attempted to enforce controversial laws aimed at curbing internet trolling as part of overarching efforts to address digital safety concerns.

Bibliography

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