Science confirms that Internet trolls really are horrible people

I guess I am a sadistic psychopath. If I post on Reddit I can't help but troll. That's why I don't post there. Here I am pretty sarcastic but I don't troll. Just some websites turn me into a troll and I am very sarcastic by nature. I believe most intelligent people are. Although you cannot really get sarcasm via the Internet, it's hard to turn off.

reply to post by flammadraco


My exposure is pretty much limited to ATS - since msn closed their community-hosting service, I haven't bothered with any other online communities or posted on other message boards. But even ATS' much vaunted "civilized discourse" has resulted in my developing a really thick skin and losing 3 hard drives - a lot of hassle for a poor disabled senior with no tech skills. So yah - all of the above, plus malicious, spiteful, malevolent, malignant and vindictive. 'Kinda like a church on steroids.

TDawgRex
Sometimes I want them all lined against the wall and shot. (When it harms innocent people)

And there are other times where I am waving the flag for them. (When you can see that they are just having a little fun, or actually helping people)

I guess I'm still on the fence.

Then let me give you a friendly push. Trolls have no redeeming qualities online or off. Their online persona is an exact mirror of how they are offline. An online troll is an offline bully.

People who help others are not trolls. They may give advice or subtly "call people out" on their imperfections, but they do so because they feel that the person needs that nudge. Now that might be "projecting", or it could simply be that the person doing the helping actually does know the persons traits because they've seen it before. Many times. The only reason they're considered trolls is when their help isn't appreciated and therefore considered intrusive.

In short.....trolls bad......helpers good and NOT trolls.

reply to post by Taupin Desciple


Now if the NSA would utilize what power they have to actively pursue trolls and publicly out them, and maybe get the IRS involved, I might be able to get behind that. I hate bullies, on-line or off.

I will admit though at times I could be seen as a troll. I have a twisted sense of humor sometimes and I probably am guilty of derailing a thread or two with it. But many times, what started off as a serious thread ends up being a laugh fest for all involved.

I do my damnedest to not even reply to the hardcore trolls...though I think of them as mentally challenged village idiots. You don't feed 'em...they starve. It's a sad little pathetic life that they lead. They absolutely hate being called out. It's like sunlight to a vampire.

Yeah, now THAT was a troll.

This
is a troll of the worse kind though.

And they both have male pattern baldness. A trend?

About the NSA though, I think it's better to have news agencies and the like do this and publicly out the people. Obviously there are some people, like the one you posted, who really don't care though.

reply to post by Taupin Desciple


People like that have a tendency to make me want to get violent.

But they aren't worth it. The time nor the trouble. I agree with you, let the news or police handle it. And turn things around and make the trolls lives miserable with reality.

Not all trolling is awful. (Besides 99% of the time it's possible to ignore trolls if they bother you enough. That other 1% is reserved for authority figure trolls or trolls you meet in person that you can't exactly avoid or tune out.) Not to mention that sometimes a bit of trolling is necessary to (figuratively) slap some sense into somebody, or make them stop being lazy and put in a better effort. I might even be a bit guilty myself. Usually on those instances where I do it, I keep it to toungue-in-cheek type stuff, double meanings, or the backhanded compliment, since not everyone catches it.

Anyhow learning to deal with trolling builds character. If you let others bother you to the point of your own self-destruction, it means you've got a serious weak point in your personality that needs work. If you're psychologically healthy, internet trolls shouldn't have any power over you.

Online trolls dont usually get to me too deeply or too much. I have a foolproof way to destroy their existence in my reality... its called : the little X on the window I have open. I click that and Poof... troll slaughtered.

A few "friends" on here and in chat and I troll eachother.. its fun. Well... its fun unless Im getting trolled HARD.. which one particular friend dearly loved to do before he vanished from ATS

The trolls I HATE and have a difficult time dealing with are the real life trolls. Im not the most understanding person in the first place and will admit my skills in dealing with annoying people are seriously lacking. I feel like pounding them into the ground, setting them on fire... whatever comes to mind. Wish I had an off button in real life for them that didnt require hollow points.... Joking aside, real life trolls, much like internet trolls, are toxic pathetic folks who arent fit for civilized environments. They damage and attempt to destroy everyone and everything they touch.

The really entertaining thing is some of the folks here on ATS who bash trolls and trolling. I thinketh they protesteth too mucheth.

The people who actually get offended by troll and upset by complete strangers are worse than that troll.

FistOfFreedom
The people who actually get offended by troll and upset by complete strangers are worse than that troll.

While I agree to a point, sometimes a troll will direct something directly at you and everyone has a breaking point, such as a troll making up stuff about you.... who wouldn't get upset or offended?
I wish You Tube would change their comments section, people will go to a music video and make fun of the music knowing they will upset some people.
I consider trolls to not being interesting in REAL life or even have a life for that matter therefore in their lonely existence it makes them feel better about themselves to "think" they may have upset someone with their useless rants.
Let's face it, a trolls very existence is masturbation of their brain!

Pimpintology
I guess I am a sadistic psychopath. If I post on Reddit I can't help but troll. That's why I don't post there. Here I am pretty sarcastic but I don't troll. Just some websites turn me into a troll and I am very sarcastic by nature. I believe most intelligent people are. Although you cannot really get sarcasm via the Internet, it's hard to turn off.

No, I don't believe that most intelligent people are sarcastic. Most intelligent people don't need to be.

While I am at times sarcastic I do recognize it as subconscious (sometimes very conscious for me) and/or cowardly agression.

"Hey, I was just kidding."

wulff
Let's face it, a trolls very existence is masturbation of their brain!

edit on 17-2-2014 by wulff because: (no reason given)

Soooo, in this case when they're "rubbing one out", they're voiding themselves of brain cells? Huh, that actually explains a lot.

I think this study is partially on the mark, except there's different tiers of trolls. You have your amusing trolls, for starters. They're the ones that come in, and disrupt, but not maliciously. Benign OT, more or less. They're not really going to sway opinions or detract from the main topic. Then you have the ones that are more annoying bark than occasional wussy bite. They haven't really figured out how to troll, but can achieve ticking people off with enough posts/comments. After them, all of my years of participation on various forums hasn't really shown a step up to the next level of troll so much as a blatant pole vault. They're the ones everyone hates; direct attacks, malicious conduct, total derailment with a complete ability to garner disgust and anger without fail. Their sole goal is disruption, chaos and depending on how depraved, hurting others deeply.

Ultimately, I do lump all trolls into one main category, and think of them as various cockroach species of the interwebs. Chaos trolls are just the fekking German Roaches of it: harder than hell to get rid of, if ever.

I'm really pretty surprised that people here are falling for this. This looks like an obvious move to manipulate people into supporting censorship to me. The only thing that surprises me is that it took them this long to start making up excuses. Though comparing the average internet troll to Ted Bundy is something even I didn't think they would stoop to. I mean, really? Maybe there are a few really hardcore trolls who are that bad but honestly, they're just making excuses. They obviously want to censor the web and this is a perfect excuse if people buy into it.

If they get their way, sites like ATS will be the first to go. We're exactly the kinds of people these distinguished scientists would call trolls.

reply to post by arpgme


There is no freedom of speech online. It's taken away and "board rules " are applied or site rules. They should publish how much posts are deleted per day here or anywhere and how that affects use and total use compared to less to no moderation.

Johnathanandheather
reply to post by arpgme

 

There is no freedom of speech online. It's taken away and "board rules " are applied or site rules. They should publish how much posts are deleted per day here or anywhere and how that affects use and total use compared to less to no moderation.

While that may be true, the "Freedom of Speech" doesn't (and shouldn't apply to a privately owned site like ATC) I would begin to worry if the TPTB decided to tell internet site owners what they can and can't allow in their BOARD RULES!
Being a private site they are not obligated, nor should be to post how many posts are deleted per day.

reply to post by BenReclused


I can tell you more!
You are broken. I will never take you seriously because you are just too broken to ever be rational.

My vison of you is of that crazy guy babbling to himself in the street.

I mean honestly, You are'nt even that good at being bad!
Most people who share those traits mentioned above manage to really cause some damage and the best you can manage is laughable and rookie by comparison.

You made someone angry or frustrated them?
Hahah, That's not hard, children do it all the time and they're pretty dumb.

Do you understand, no... you don't. and you never will.... Because you are too broken.

A broken toy with some rough stitching that might scratch you little but will never draw blood.

Come back when you've incited an actual war, or an act of Genocide and I'll be impressed.

This will be my final communication.
You don't have a say in that

reply to post by flammadraco


Sadist?

"Beat me, beat me" said the masochist to the sadist.


"Nooooooo" said the sadist to the masochist.

The word troll is the most lackluster word ever.

Here's why.

When a person expresses their point of view they maybe doing so in a way that indicates that there's information a person is unaware of

So, instead of using a pejorative term instead you should politely inform the person or persons of information not yet received.

The second reason why troll is the most lackluster word ever is that it's used in a way that attempts to describe a person's behavior as a mindset that hates everything, when in realty a meaningful comment is what's really being conveyed.

The word troll is such an internet related word because it's an extension of our own anger that we feel from a life full of experiences that we hate.

So our behavior on the internet is an extension of our attempts to display dominance that gives a person temporary confidence in a life that experienced far too much disappointment.

People would feel much better being involved in creating solutions that provide more life sustaining resources like food, water, electricity rather than than feeling dissatisfied about some music or movie or computer console game because music, films or computer console games is merely art and though art can be soothing it's not a life supporting resource however life supporting solutions could be constructed in architecture that attempts to show art in shapes, colors and sounds.