The Psychology of Internet Trolls

[stromboli]

http://www.slate.com/articles/health_an ... pathy.html

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.

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."

[Solitary]

Wow! Thanks! Very interesting and some what more than I thought. Solitary


It sure does fit this guy: davidmabus2020
Banned
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 32
 
MONTREAL - Montreal police say they've made an arrest in a case involving alleged threats made for nearly 20 years against atheists and secular scientists around the world.

In a curt news release, they say they've arrested a suspect but have few other details.

Police started investigating the online activity of a Montreal man following a deluge of complaints from around the world about his alleged habit of threatening people online.

More than 3,000 people signed a petition calling on police to investigate reports of death threats against atheists and secularists.

Some people allegedly being threatened said the Montrealer, who goes by the online moniker "David Mabus" among a number pseudonyms, has been at it for nearly two decades.


Most of you know about the threatening emails that Canadian Dennis Markuze, aka "Dave Mabus" sent to many atheists and scientists. I myself received hundreds of them, including death threats. When I asked others how to report them, I learned that Markuze had already been reported to the Montreal police, who apparently weren't interested in messing with him so long as he sat in his mother's basement and didn't actually hurt anyone.

That, of course, has changed. Carl Zimmer, P. Z. Myers, and others made serious complaints, there was a petition signed to the police, and, finally, the police themselves lured Markuze into attacking their own Twitter account. Ars Technica has the whole gory tale of his capture and arrest.

And, as far as anyone could tell, the complaints went nowhere. The local authorities weren't interested in acting, and most of Mabus' targets didn't even live in Canada. That eventually changed, in part due to Mabus' lack of discretion when it came to choosing his targets. One of Zimmer's tweets apparently caught the attention of William Raillant-Clark, who handles press for the University of Montreal. Calling the inaction "unacceptable," Ralliant-Clark began investigating the story and placed his results on Tumblr; he also included the Montreal Police's press account on Twitter in some of the conversation.

Here's where Mabus' thoroughness backfired. Noticing the Twitter conversation between Ralliant-Clark and his former victims, he added the journalist to his target list. And, since the Montreal police's Twitter account was also mentioned, it got a copy too. Mabus actually started sending diatribes to the local police force.

He's a sick man, and I hope he gets the help he needs. But really, the Montreal Police should have taken action long before this. How many death threats does it take before someone gets investigated? Or do they have to wait until those threats are actually carried out?

[the_antithesis]

Ah, good ol' fucktard.

[Thumpalumpacus]

Hah, David Mabus tried to troll us at TAF ... we'd just use his threads to post salacious pics.  Everyone likes tits, right?

[Sal1981]

Very interesting article.

[SGOS]

What???  Trolls are assholes?  Who would have guessed.   :-D

[Deidre32]

What is the objective definition of an internet troll? Probably everyone's is different. lol I consider a troll to be someone who just posts on message boards to upset the rest of the 'regular' posters, but has no real desire to contribute anything of value to the conversations. But, some trolls can be funny. lol

[PickelledEggs]

Might I indulge in a video re-post?

[youtube:yg1lnxes]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHqGV5WjS4w[/youtube:yg1lnxes]

[Deidre32]

Might I indulge in a video re-post?

Writer posted a YouTube video

I intend to listen to this, later, since it's 41 minutes. I will then be a graduate of Troll 101. lol Thank you for posting. :)

[darsenfeld]

It depends, I believe people are too sensitive, don't let what strangers online say offend you.