A simple rule of thumb dating all the way back to Norse mythology still applies today: “Don’t feed the trolls.” And now a psychology paper explains why you should adhere to it.
Given the dubious title of “Internet trolls,” there are certain Internet commenters that exist to cause trouble and goad people into arguments. A research paper released last month suggests they have traits associated with “the dark triad” or “dark Tetra.”
The traits of the triad — narcissism, characterized by pride, grandeur and egotism; Machiavellianism, including blatant disregard for other people’s feelings; and psychopathy, including impulsivity, callousness and a lack of remorse.
Part of two online studies conducted by the Department of Psychology at the University of Manitoba in Canada, the paper focused on Internet trolling. It surveyed users’ Internet commenting styles and found that strong positive associations emerged among online commenting frequency, trolling enjoyment and troll identity and pointed to the dark triad personality construct.
“Trolls operate as agents of chaos on the Internet, exploiting ‘hot-button issues’ to make users appear overly emotional or foolish in some manner,” the paper states.
Jason Frum had that personality. The 31-year-old, now a counselor in Atchison, Kan., says he spent hours a day on the Internet trolling people.
“I had basically three or four sites and a bunch of news sites that I would go to and just (tick) people off, just whatever started a reaction,” he says.
Topics would range from 9/11 memorials to deaths of celebrities like Brittany Murphy and Patrick Swayze. Mr. Frum said he didn’t care who he offended, as long as his presence was given validation.
“I didn’t get a lot of attention at home or at school. If you saw me out in public, you probably would have no idea that I was the type of person to say such terrible things,” he says.
The anonymity of the Internet allowed Mr. Frum to say whatever he wanted with no repercussions.
He was the definitive troll, as the paper describes: “Behaving in a deceptive, destructive, or disruptive manner in a social setting on the Internet with no apparent instrumental purpose.” It was behavior he knew other people wouldn’t understand.
“It’s something you see every day and you project yourself onto other commenters and can’t understand why they would say such things. Frankly, they’re not you and what (the troll) is saying is a pure, unfiltered reflection of their messy life,” Mr. Frum says.
Though some sites, such as Popular Science, have done away with comment sections, that is more the exception than the rule. Erin Buckles, the study’s first author, told the website Mother Jones that there’ are almost limitless possibilities to cause conflict on the Internet.
“Because the behaviors are intrinsically motivating for sadists, comment moderators will likely have a difficult time curbing trolling with punishments,” she says.
Mr. Frum said it took a best friend finding out his username on several sites, as he operated under the same handle on all of them, to wake him up from what he was doing.
“It was like the mirror was uncovered. He saw some of the things I was saying and couldn’t believe it was me, this super nice guy, basically mocking the dead and others,” he says.
He adds: “I realized that wasn’t who I wanted to be and it actually got me into counseling. Now, it’s something I help others work out,” he says.
The paper is not a definitive piece of work on trolling, as it was not a random sample. Researchers asked the questions to 188 Canadian psychology students for extra course credit for completing the surveys, as well as 609 United States residents on a survey website.
With that said, it opens up the floor on the conversation of why people enjoy trolling others and getting them riled up.
“These findings provide a preliminary glimpse into the mechanism by which sadism fosters trolling behavior,” the article states.