On-line Trolls are "sadists"

[EZEtoGRU]

Well at least according to this article and the cited study:

 

http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/11/tech/web/online-trolls-sadists/index.html?c=tech

 

We've had our share of trolls over the years on here. Thankfully Daddy and the mods became more aggressive in issuing time-outs about 18 months ago. Most of our own trolls are gone which has allowed for a much more civil discourse here IMHO.

 

What are your thoughts on this study and what they discuss?

[wisconsinguy]

Creepy, but really interesting. I simply believe that all behaviors come in degrees. This one also. Do we remember Debbie Downer from SNL? So wrapped up in their own misery, that they envelope all those around them? A number 1 on my miserable person scale. Then there are those that their obsession takes them to online experiences. Or, it takes them to everyday human interactions they they revel in making those around miserable. I have worked with individuals such as this, and I'm sure many have. When we have site such as this, is good to know that we have someone (Daddy) watching our back. Simply explanation for me, in my routine life, I've learned to identify them.

[Lookin]

What are your thoughts on this study and what they discuss?

 

Makes as much sense as any explanation I've heard so far. I've long thought there was some kind of mental aberration behind the worst of the so-called 'trolls' I've seen here. And thankfully, as you say, the worst of them have exited stage left.

 

 

http://improvmantra.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/stage_hook.gif

 

 

A few years back, there was one such who drove me away from the Message Center for a few months before he himself up and disappeared. He presented as witty, but almost every one of his posts was mean-spirited and was directly aimed at some other member here. I could never figure out what was in it for him. No doubt he enjoyed the attention, but he seemed smart enough to get attention in less nasty ways if he chose. The only way that seemed to work for him was by aggressively attacking and ridiculing others.

 

The post that jumped the shark for me was one in which he photoshopped the head of a popular escort onto the body of the poor young Vietnamese girl running and crying in pain from a napalm attack that had burned her clothes off and blistered her arm. The post is probably still in the archives, but I have little desire to find it again.

 

When I said that post, and the resulting support, were enough to drive me away, he tried to 'justify' it by saying it was an 'iconic' image and suitable for his brand of humor. Anyone with a shred of compassion knew that he had none himself and, for me, that lack of feeling put a pall of creepiness over the Message Center that made it a very uninviting place.

 

But what was even more disturbing for me was that there were a few posters who actually supported him and his brand of - I'll use the article's term as I think it fits like a glove - sadistic 'humor'. They were able to laugh at the image of a child in agony with an escort's head shot pasted on. That's when I knew it was time for me to also exit stage left. A single unfeeling individual was barely tolerable, but not a culture in which a lack of compassion is lionized. I was encouraged that, once I had posted my views, most others posted that they also felt the same sense of revulsion. There was, and still is, a large majority of posters who are kind-hearted and supportive of others. But it was the troll-supporters who caught my attention.

 

And that's what brings me to make this post. If we can assume, as the linked article does, that a troll is a sadist, what can we say about those who applaud the trolls? That crowd mentality was what took things to a new level for me. The best explanation I could think of at the time was that they publicly supported him because they figured it was a good defense against being singled out for his ridicule. But the dynamics suggested by the article got me wondering if there's a better explanation. Are those who support sadists actually sadists themselves? Or would they be masochists? Or are they, as I originally thought, just trying to keep out of the line of fire?

 

Interesting topic. And thanks for posting. http://www.boytoy.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/default/thumbsup.png

[MsGuy]

Several of the departed used aggravate me on occasion but the only one who managed to get me upset/pissed off was the creep who joked around about the Daniel Pearl beheading (can't recall his posting nick). Something about that thread just went way over some line in my head.

====

But it seems to me there's a design flaw in the survey. If you first define a 'troll' as a poster having the characteristic behavior of a sadist * and proceed to do a personality inventory on the folks who then self-identify as trolls, isn't it a foregone conclusion that you're going to uncover a lot of the personality traits of a sadist?

 

* "As defined in the article, online trolling is "the practice of behaving in a deceptive, destructive, or disruptive manner in a social setting on the Internet with no apparent instrumental purpose."

 

Maybe their definition of troll is drawn too narrowly. Just saying that I think there are more than one kind of mean girl on the net.

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PS Lookin, the gentleman in your pic is about to exit house left, not stage left. (Actors have the same problem with left and right that sailors have.)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/81/Stage_directions_2.svg/220px-Stage_directions_2.svg.png

 

Just thought you'd want to know.

=====

Oh you sneaky bastard, you edited your post!

 

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sK0LngVeenY/T5dpMeZi4lI/AAAAAAAAC9o/U5Lf7NUufUs/s1600/curses,%2Bfoiled%2Bagain.jpg

 

Damn it, I knew I shoudda quoted your original pic.

[+ poolboy48220]

Not sure if I'd call them sadists. Just mean-spirited people who take advantage of the anonymity the internet offers.

[Steven_Draker]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/81/Stage_directions_2.svg/220px-Stage_directions_2.svg.png

 

Choose the one that applies:

 

[EZEtoGRU]

 

As defined in the article, online trolling is "the practice of behaving in a deceptive, destructive, or disruptive manner in a social setting on the Internet with no apparent instrumental purpose."

 

Maybe their definition of troll is drawn too narrowly. Just saying that I think there are more than one kind of mean girl on the net.

 

I agree with your point. Trolls come in several different colors. Some of the worst most aggressive trolls may well be sadists. I think others simply suffer from very low self-esteem and thus feel more empowered when they are anonymously trolling the internet. For yet others, it may be a cry for attention due to loneliness. There have been (and still are) posters that like to be the center of the conversation on any given thread and feel they need to comment on nearly every single thread. Perhaps not "trolls".....but an interesting behavior nonetheless.

 

Now I wonder if there is a high degree of correlation between sadism, low self-esteem, loneliness, and obsessive compulsive behavior? Ugh....that's too complicated for my brain at this time of the morning.

[Lookin]

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PS Lookin, the gentleman in your pic is about to exit house left, not stage left. (Actors have the same problem with left and right that sailors have.)

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/81/Stage_directions_2.svg/220px-Stage_directions_2.svg.png

 

Just thought you'd want to know.

=====

Oh you sneaky bastard, you edited your post!

 

Damn it, I knew I shoudda quoted your original pic.

 

 

Here it is, just as wrong as the first time:

 

 

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/stage_hook-thumb_8706.png

 

 

And check out the reason for editing. I gave you full credit for making the edit:

 

 

Last edited by Lookin; 18 Hours Ago at 11:25 PM. Reason: Welcome tip from MsGuy!

 

 

And, if that's not enough, stick around. I bet I'll be screwing something else up royally, and well before the sun sets in the East.

 

 

http://www.coca.ir/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/manhattanhenge-9.jpg

[MsGuy]

And check out the reason for editing. I gave you full credit for making the edit:

 

 

Last edited by Lookin; 18 Hours Ago at 11:25 PM. Reason: Welcome tip from MsGuy!

 

 

OOPS

 

http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/img-thing%3F.out%3Djpg%26size%3Dl%26tid%3D67305730

 

Boy, do I feel stupid now.