Are Internet Trolls Intelligent?

Psychologists have identified the kind of emotional intelligence that makes internet trolls so mean. It’s a jungle out there.

What kind of person is an internet troll?

Trolls are characterised by the ‘Dark Tetrad’ of personality traits, including psychopathy, Machiavellianism, Narcissism and sadism. In internet parlance, a troll is generally defined as a person who posts abusive, insulting, inflammatory, extraneous, off-topic or digressive messages in an online community.

What makes someone an actual internet troll?

What is trolling? In scientific literature, internet trolling is defined as a malicious online behaviour, characterised by aggressive and deliberate provocation of others. “Trolls” seek to provoke, upset and harm others via inflammatory messages and posts.

Are internet trolls bad?

Their ability to upset or harm gives them a feeling of power. Psychological researches conducted in the fields of personality psychology and cyberpsychology report that trolling behaviour qualifies as an anti-social behaviour and is strongly correlated to sadistic personality disorder (SPD).

How can you tell an internet troll?

Internet trolls are easy to spot once you are aware of certain online behavior patterns. They don’t show their own face in their profile image. Instead, they typically use a seemingly “funny” photo of a cartoon character, a celebrity photo, or a random image. Their username is a nickname rather than their real name.

Are internet trolls psychopaths?

‘Online trolls have been described as self-aggrandizing, individualistic, and unremorseful in their behavior,’ reads the study published in the journal of Social Media and Society. ‘Research suggests that trolls possess dark personality traits, including psychopathy, narcissism, sadism, and Machiavellianism. ‘

How do you get rid of trolls?

5 tips for dealing with trolls

1. Starve them. It’s totally understandable to want to wage a war on trolls with your keyboard, but trolls thrive on others’ anger, frustration and annoyance.
2. Record it. Take a screenshot so that you have a record of the original post.
3. Stand up for yourself.
4. Log off.
5. Tell someone you trust.

Why do trolls want attention?

Trolls are, she says, most likely driven by a need for attention. “Their comments often spark attention from others, so it can give the illusion of being important,” she explains. “And this sense of importance and centre of attention usually compensates for how they really feel in their life.

Can anyone become a troll?

In our research, we found that people can be influenced to troll others under the right circumstances in an online community. By analyzing 16 million comments made on CNN.com and conducting an online controlled experiment, we identified two key factors that can lead ordinary people to troll.

How do you fight internet trolls?

Defeat Internet Trolls with These 10 Techniques

1. Don’t Feed the Trolls. The classic internet adage still holds merit.
2. Add Moderators to Your Roster.
3. If You Can’t Ignore the Trolls, Call Their B.S.
4. Kill Them with Kindness.
5. Disarm Them with Humor.
6. Block, Ban, or Report Trolls.
7. Decompress Before You Reply.
8. Stay Professional.

Is trolling a crime?

Trolling is a form of baiting online which involves sending abusive and hurtful comments across all social media platforms. This can be prosecuted under the Malicious Communication Act 1988 and the Communications Act 2003.

Is trolling illegal?

Trolling is not a crime under federal law. But under the laws of many states, harassment, stalking, and/or bullying are illegal.

Are trolls real?

Are Trolls Real? Trolls are real in the same way Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster are real. They’re mythical creatures that are thought to have been around for centuries, but there’s no physical evidence to prove that they ever actually existed.

Can trolls be traced?

The police will very rarely help you track down your internet troll. Even if you have circumstantial evidence, unless to hand over to the police evidence that proves beyond reasonable doubt who your internet troll is, you are likely to receive very little support from the police in tracking down your internet troll.

Did you know facts about trolls?

10 Things You Should Know About Norwegian Trolls

• Trolls are mammals.
• There are two types – mountain trolls and woodland trolls.
• They live for 1000 – 12000 years.
• They are born with one head and one eye but as they age they grow two more heads to scare away other trolls but they still only have one eye.

Where does trolling come from?

[From the Usenet group alt. folklore. urban] To utter a posting on Usenet designed to attract predictable responses or flames. Derives from the phrase “trolling for newbies” which in turn comes from mainstream “trolling”, a style of fishing in which one trails bait through a likely spot hoping for a bite.

Are Internet trolls sadists?

A recent scientific study has found that internet trolls are likely to be psychopaths and sadists. The new findings attempt to unpack the psychological motivations behind quarrelsome and inflammatory posting online.

How do narcissists troll?

Tease, ridicule and shame them mercilessly for not trying to figure out right from wrong, instead, pretending to have it all figured out. Stay calm, even friendly, to the person cowering inside their absolute narcissistic fake infallibility cloak. Stay light, even humorous.

Who are the trollers?

troll. n. 1. A supernatural creature of Scandinavian folklore, variously portrayed as a friendly or mischievous dwarf or as a giant, that lives in caves, in the hills, or under bridges.

How do you not let trolls get to you?

9 tips for handling trolls on social media

1. Establish a policy. Most social networks have community policies for ‘being respectful’.
2. Ignore them.
3. Respond with facts.
4. Diffuse with humor.
5. Block or ban them.
6. Correct mistakes.
7. Don’t be baited.
8. Don’t delete their posts.

Why is it difficult to ignore a troll?

Because sometimes fighting a troll sends a message to everyone else. Sometimes it sets a standard of what is and isn’t acceptable behavior. Sometimes it speaks the truth when the troll has been speaking untruth. Sometimes it gives others language for what they know but can’t express to be true.