Web troll study

Interesting..

"In the past few years, the science of Internet trollology has made some strides. Last year, for instance, we learned that by hurling insults and inciting discord in online comment sections, so-called Internet "trolls" (who are frequently anonymous) have a polarizing effect on audiences, leading to politicization, rather than deeper understanding of scientific topics.

That's bad, but it's nothing compared with what a new psychology paper has to say about the personalities of so-called trolls themselves. The research, conducted by Erin Buckels of the University of Manitoba and two colleagues, sought to directly investigate whether people who engage in trolling are characterized by personality traits that fall in the so-called "Dark Tetrad": Machiavellianism (willingness to manipulate and deceive others), narcissism (egotism and self-obsession), psychopathy (the lack of remorse and empathy), and sadism (pleasure in the suffering of others)."

https://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2014/02/internet-trolls-sadists-psychopaths-lulz

We call them "trolls" because they use insults.

jatki99- you are a racist and a homophobe!

jphelan, is that an actual quotation from someone here?

The homophobe charge comes from Ellenmonster -- I think many lay claim to the racist name calling.

I love Craig Ferguson's use of the "racism" term on his show ---- makes me laugh and think of the LVA each time!

Ellenmonster also called me a homophobe today. Apparently she likes that word.

I think she meant to call you a 'homophone'.

Anyone who says that Ellenmonster is a troll is an idiot. She's a provocateur, a mixer. You know, like Paul's grandfather.

From The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, copyright 1971 (pre-Internet slang): troll

1. To fish for by trailing a baited line from behind a slowly moving boat (LVA certainly is slowly moving, LOL).
2. To trail (a baited line) in fishing.
3. To sing in succession the parts of a round; to sing heartily [e.g.] troll a carol. (Gee, I always thought it was "toll the ancient yuletide carol, not troll the ancient yuletide carol.)
4. A supernatural creature of Scandinavian folklore variously portrayed as a friendly or mischievous dwarf, or sometimes a giant, that lives in caves, in the hills, or under bridges (applicable to the reference in the sources mentioned about anonymity).

The word Internet doesn't appear in this dictionary. The closest word is "internecine":
1. Mutually destructive, ruinous or fatal to both sides.
2. Characterized by bloodshed or carnage; massacre, slaughter.
3. [Usage in newer sense] Internal struggle or conflict not necessarily fatal or mutually destructive.

The first definition To fish for by trailing a baited line from behind a slowly moving boat applies. The idea is to set out the bait in hopes that you will hook folks into an emotional overreaction. At least so I am told.