The Psychology Behind Of Trolling : What Influences This Behavior?

The internet and the people on it can be very crucial. Social media allows people to express themselves in ways they feel can’t in the actual world. They express their feelings, their open to their own opinions, and so forth. However, the internet also consists of people who give unnecessary, mean, and hateful opinions to other people for reasons that no one truly understands. The podcast “Act One. Ask Not For Whom The Bell Trolls; It Trolls for Thee” by Lindsey West, is about a female who was constantly getting backlashed over the internet by whom she referred to as “trolls.” The internet is usually where people go to voice their opinions over what they feel is right or wrong; with Lindsey West, she had voiced her opinion and what she felt was wrong about male comedians using the rape term too often and using carelessly. A result of West voicing her opinion

She goes into detail on several different forms of trolling and some of the situations in which it has been used to mock or harass people. When looking at her thesis, Zhou’s solution to trolling on the internet is to have different websites and social

The bullies could encourage others to be mean like them because it is “cool.” Many cyber bullies enjoy bullying people because it is funny or entertaining for them. This is why it happens so much including that it is the easiest way possible to bully someone online. Another reason why it spreads around is because the bullying could happen on any social media site or any websites, therefore it can be easily accessed and shared to many people. Once something is posted online, it will always be stored somewhere and it can never be permanently deleted.

Virtually all of us believe that we are in control of our lives but unconsciously the internet has managed to signification influence our actions, thoughts and beliefs. It has allowed us to think it’s normal to share our daily movements with our alleged followers, sharing our inner and deepest secrets; we are trying to make a lasting impression to the world while trying to seek external validation. Sometimes we compare our own lives to those of who we follow and become obsessed that our life doesn't live up to others, allowing us to create doubt in ourselves. Is it right that “girls seek comfort on social media when they are worried” rather than talking to her parents? No, it’s not! We as millions of us regularly seek external validation we leave the flood gates wide open for people to manipulate some vulnerable states of mind. The modern term associated with people that abuse the social network is – troll. “A troll in internet slang, is somebody who deliberately upsets others be starting arguments or posting inflammatory messages on blogs, chartrooms or forums” Therefore, the “anonymity of the internet is the perfect playground” for trolls, but we shouldn't let them prey on our vulnerability, we shouldn't succumb to the exploit they are trying to achieve. Trolls are experts on detecting your negativity and will play on that, knowing that you are anxious to

What is cyberbullying? “Cyberbullying is the use of the Internet, smartphones, or other electronic communication devices to spread harmful or embarrassing information about another person” (Cyberbullying). Cyberbullying is very well known to the world of social media. We used to have bullies who would harass us at school which was bad enough but now worth cyberbullying it follows our teenagers everywhere. Home used to be a safe place but our technology no longer allows that safe place. Not only is the cyberbullying bad for the victim but it is also bad for the person on the other side of the screen making these vicious comments. Anyone can go online and say whatever they want about another person because they are not

As the drastic increase of social media networks has increased, so too has the cyberbullying prevalence. Merriam-Webster defines cyberbullying as the electronic posting of mean-spirited messages about a person often done anonymously. Kassandra Gahagan and her fellow colleagues studied cyberbullying among students and its outcomes. Studies show higher rates of suicidal thoughts and behaviors with victims of cyberbullying, along with higher rates of depression, anxiety and paranoia (Gahagan, Vaterlaus & Frost, 2015). While cyberbullying can be both intentional or unintentional, it is a negative process which effects the victim. This includes comments, posts without consent and messages. The study conducted sought to determine the prevalence of cyberbullying among young adults and the negative outcomes through asking three questions.

Trolling is the new title that has been given to harassment that takes place on the Internet. A common example of trolling would be sending provocative messages via a communications platform for the pure entertainment of the sender, which then has a harmful effect on the recipient. There are different types of trolling; messages sent to harm others for the sender’s gratification are called ‘flame trolls’, and those to entertain others for their gratification have been given the title ‘kudos trolls’ (Bishop 2012a, 2012b). Where these actions have the resource to legal remedies they are called ‘electronic message faults’ and where the message fails to constitute an offence ‘electronic message freedoms’, and there is quite rightly nothing to

At some point during your childhood, you may have encountered that troubled individual, typically known as the “bully” that drove fear in the hearts of the weakest link by humiliating them, taking what is rightfully theirs, constantly picking on them and sometimes even inflicting physical abuse. Well I hate to break it to you but this individual is back and is more equipped than before, preying on the weak and vulnerable in the cyber world (internet). Most recently, it took a crime wave of “cyber bullying” before our media and leaders in the Untied States gave it attention; now that the American people realize that the “classroom bully” has evolved into a more dangerously clever and

Daniel D’Addario wrote an article called “Everything is ‘Trolling’ Now,” which is about internet trolling. Trolling is generally regarded as an intentionally offensive remark or action against a person or group of people who hold a certain ideology in order to get a reaction (421). However, D’Addario takes note in the article of an apparent oversaturation of the word ‘troll.’ Individuals will call many different things a form of trolling, to the point that it seems as though just holding an opinion is enough to be considered as a personal attack against other people. D’Addario even mocks this by occasionally placing quotation marks around the word ‘troll,’ to call into question a particular instance of its usage. Through sourcing, comparisons,

When I hear the word troll, two very distinct images come to mind. The first is the fuzzy and yellow creature from Dora, the second is someone who abuses the internet's anonymity as a means to spread chaos without fear of penalty. To find a YouTube comment section without disorder from ignorance or arrogance is to find a four-leaved clover. The most awful of all are those who go out of their way to spread hate. Yet we shrug and call them trolls. Such nasty creatures they are. They bar bridges on the sole purpose to make everyone's life harder. While I can understand it's easier to say something mean behind a computer screen where the connection to the target is so impersonal, I can't seem to wrap my mind around the pure hatred certain

Trolling has mostly been used by the “alt-right,” which is an “Internet-grown reactionary movement that works for men’s rights and against immigration.” Milo Yiannopoulos is a leader of the alt-right who was banned from Twitter for harassing Leslie Jones. He claims that trolling is due to liberals telling people what to do and what to say. In essence, The alt-right uses trolling to express their views.

Many cyber chats, although good for online communication however also has the potentials to cause emotional distress. Insults, profanity, humiliation and much more are some of the causes of which resulted many people to depression, suicide to ‘get out of this misery’. Through social networking, online reputations are being humiliated through verbal communications or offensive images that are being posted up onto social networking sites, such as Facebook. Chanelle Rae, a 14-year-old former student at Geelong’s Western Heights College, took her life on Friday the 17th of July 2009 in another cyber bullying incident, of which Chanelle’s mother, Karen reported to 3AW radio on the 21st of July 2009. Her mother reported, ‘she wanted to die because of the message that was given to her that night.,’ This highlights the fact that lives can also be lost while having the benefits of social networking on Facebook, Bebo, Twitter and much more. Thus shows that social networking can have a severe impact on many of our lives through what we say or post online.

For the past decade or so there has been a considerable shift in the way we communicate with each other; instead of speaking face-to-face, we prefer to stay in touch by way of a Facebook post or Tweet. Social media dominates our life whether we’re using it, or not. However, not all online dissonance has been healthy and civil. The internet has seen a rise in the number of trolls and predators that lurk the dark corners of the Internet. Threats, and heinous insults flood media networks like Reddit and Snapchat. Online predators who fling insults are enamored by the internet’s alluring anonymity and can’t give it up. Like Christine Rosen says in her article called, “In the Beginning Was the Word,” “technology has introduced new words, changed the meaning of others, and has even introduced new forms of language and communication” (230). The evolutionary trend and prevalence of people intentionally offending others online has led to a

Due to this easy access to a digital platform and worldwide audience, many see this as an opportunity for sharing ideas, thoughts, beliefs and practising freedom of speech. For many this is a great opportunity to reach out and connect with people from across the globe through their online ‘profiles’. Some people find that a digital voice or message has a greater effect than a literal voice thus boosting people’s confidence in sharing things with others online. Although this can be viewed as a positive way of allowing someone to communicate their thoughts with others, some individuals take this opportunity of being hidden behind a screen to spread hateful, rude and disrespectful comments with others on the worldwide web. These individuals, often referred to as ‘trolls’ will often mock, threaten, and sometimes blackmail others using their online profiles. Jonathan Bishop claims that “trolling in general is the posting of messages via a communications network that are intended to be provocative, offensive or menacing”. (Bishop, 2013, p28)

Power-hungry people do it to torment others and social popularity. Revenge of the nerd may start out as defending themself from traditional bullying only to find that he or she enjoys being the tough guy. Mean girls do it to help bolster, or remind people, of their own social standing. Some think they are justifying the wrong and standing up for others. In general, cyberbullies have their own motives on why they are involved in cyberbullying. Some of their intentions have been identified as anonymity, power, attention, retaliation, boredom, jealousy, and the pleasure of inflicting pain. Numerous people who participate in cyber bullying do it to make themselves feel better. Bullies tend to have much insecurity, but they hide them through insulting others.