Troll (slang)
In slang, a troll is a person who posts deliberately offensive or provocative messages online[1] (such as in social media, a newsgroup, a forum, a chat room, an online video game) or who performs similar behaviors in real life. The methods and motivations of trolls can range from benign to sadistic. These messages can be inflammatory, insincere, digressive,[2] extraneous, or off-topic, and may have the intent of provoking others into displaying emotional responses,[3] or manipulating others' perception, thus acting as a bully or a provocateur. The behavior is typically for the troll's amusement, or to achieve a specific result such as disrupting a rival's online activities or purposefully causing confusion or harm to other people.[4] Trolling behaviors involve tactical aggression to incite emotional responses, which can adversely affect the target's well-being.[5]
"Trolling" redirects here. For the method of fishing, see Trolling (fishing). For other uses, see Troll (disambiguation).In this context, both the noun and the verb forms of "troll" are frequently associated with Internet discourse. Media attention in recent years has equated trolling with online harassment. The Courier-Mail and The Today Show have used "troll" to mean "a person who defaces Internet tribute sites with the aim of causing grief to families".[6][7] In addition, depictions of trolling have been included in popular fictional works, such as the HBO television program The Newsroom, in which a main character encounters harassing persons online and tries to infiltrate their circles by posting negative sexual comments.[8]
Usage
Application of the term troll is subjective. Some readers may characterize a post as trolling, while others may regard the same post as a legitimate contribution to the discussion, even if controversial.[9] More potent acts of trolling are blatant harassment or off-topic banter.[10] However, the term Internet troll has also been applied to information warfare, hate speech, and even political activism.[11]
The "Trollface" is an image occasionally used to indicate trolling in Internet culture.[12][13][14]
At times, the word is incorrectly used to refer to anyone with controversial, or differing, opinions.[15] Such usage goes against the ordinary meaning of troll in multiple ways. While psychologists have determined that psychopathological sadism, dark triad, and dark tetrad personality traits are common among Internet trolls,[16][17][18][19][20] some observers claim that trolls do not actually believe the controversial views they claim. Farhad Manjoo criticises this view, noting that if the person really is trolling, they are more intelligent than their critics would believe.[15]
Troll sites
The online forum TOTSE, as created in 1997, is considered one of the earliest trolling communities, predating 4chan by several years.[76] A New York Times article discussed troll activity at 4chan and at Encyclopedia Dramatica, which it described as "an online compendium of troll humor and troll lore".[29] 4chan's /b/ board is recognized as "one of the Internet's most infamous and active trolling hotspots".[77] This site and others are often used as a base to troll against sites that their members can not normally post on. These trolls feed off the reactions of their victims because "their agenda is to take delight in causing trouble".[78] Places like Reddit, 4chan, and other anonymous message boards are prime real-estate for online trolls. Because there is no easy way of tracing who someone is, trolls can post very inflammatory content without repercussion.[26]
The online French group Ligue du LOL has been accused of organized harassment and described as a troll group.[79]
Examples
So-called Gold Membership trolling originated in 2007 on 4chan boards, when users posted fake images claiming to offer upgraded 4chan account privileges; without a "Gold" account, one could not view certain content. This turned out to be a hoax designed to fool board members, especially newcomers. It was copied and became an Internet meme. In some cases, this type of troll has been used as a scam, most notably on Facebook, where fake Facebook Gold Account upgrade ads have proliferated in order to link users to dubious websites and other content.[110]
The case of Zeran v. America Online, Inc. resulted primarily from trolling. Six days after the Oklahoma City bombing, anonymous users posted advertisements for shirts celebrating the bombing on AOL message boards, claiming that the shirts could be obtained by contacting Mr. Kenneth Zeran. The posts listed Zeran's address and home phone number. Zeran was subsequently harassed.[111]
Anti-scientology protests by Anonymous, commonly known as Project Chanology, are sometimes labeled as "trolling" by media such as Wired,[112] and the participants sometimes explicitly self-identify as "trolls".
Neo-Nazi website The Daily Stormer orchestrates what it calls a "Troll Army", and has encouraged trolling of Jewish MP Luciana Berger and Muslim activist Mariam Veiszadeh.[113]
Ken McCarthy, going by the online pseudonym "Ken M", is considered one of the greatest internet trolls of all time.[114] Ken M is known for trolling forums and comment sections by playing a "well-meaning moron" online. McCarthy compared his trolling to a comedy routine, where strangers who responded to his comments became unwitting "straight men". Ken M would reply with increasingly absurd statements until his ruse was discovered.[114]
In 2012, after feminist Anita Sarkeesian started a Kickstarter campaign to fund a series of YouTube videos chronicling misogyny in video games, she received bomb threats at speaking engagements, doxing threats, rape threats, and an unwanted starring role in a video game called Beat Up Anita Sarkeesian.[115]
In 2018 the Russian government was accused of using sockpuppet armies, consisting of 13 Russians and about three Russian companies, including Concord Management, to alter the outcome of the 2016 US presidential election.[116] With the aim of ensuring that the Republican nominee, Donald Trump, emerged victorious, the sockpuppets allegedly pushed various criminal conspiracies, political rallies, and disparaging comments about Trump's major opponent, Hillary Clinton, on social media.[116] Initially only Twitter and Facebook detected the campaign but other reports suggest that YouTube, Tumblr, Google+, PayPal, and Instagram were used.[117] Donald Trump denied plotting with the Russian government to run the propaganda and the Russian Government vehemently denied ties to the companies indicted.
In 2020, the official Discord server and Twitch channel for the U.S. Army Esports team became a target of trolling, as people sent anti-U.S. Army messages, memes, and references to war crimes committed by the United States to both.[118] When the team started banning users from their Twitch channel for trolling, they were accused of violating the First Amendment to the United States Constitution by the ACLU and Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University.[119][120] The team has since denied these allegations.[121]
In 2021, the Salon columnist Amanda Marcotte, author of Troll Nation: How the Right Became Trump-Worshipping Monsters Set on Rat-F*cking Liberals, America, and Truth Itself (2018), described the American far-right exclusively male organization Proud Boys, the conservative pundit Tucker Carlson, and podcast host Joe Rogan as political commentators who have mastered "the art of trolling as a far-right recruitment strategy" by preying upon the American male insecurities, mediocrity, and fragility.[122] In particular, regarding their respective discriminatory comments about transgender people, she remarks "how crucial gender anxiety is to far-right recruitment".[122]