Modern Day Trolls

Donath (1999) depicts trolling as an identity game whereby the troll themselves try to take on the identity of a legitimate user that possess commonalities with the group. With this assumed identity a troll’s activities can range from several things; spamming users or groups, spreading disinformation for their own enjoyment, making controversial statements to get an emotive reaction from other internet users, baiting others into arguments and sending offensive and abusive content to those they believe will respond badly. The word troll comes from the mythological Norse creature that hid under bridges for their unassuming prey. These modern-day trolls like their Norse counterparts lurk within the depths of the internet and social media waiting

Trolls bait people into engagement much like fishermen and their catch. They drop a line of text in an environment full of potential prey and wait for a member to bite (Hopkinson, 2013.). Trolling is a destructive and constructive behaviour. Trolls antagonise but also develop their own social networks and alliances used to build communities and reinforce their group identity. Phillips (2011) confirms this in her research noting that trolls themselves form an “anti-social network” where they socialize, form links, detail their previous raids (planned troll attacks) and organise future raids. Facebook appears to be a modern-day agora for trolls. Despite, not offering direct anonymity or protection to trolls the popularity of Facebook trolling is at its peak. We can assume this is because trolls are able to gather real information on their targets and thus push their buttons. On Facebook, like with other forms of social media, trolls are organised and often form networks or groups. An example is a group that specifically targeted the McCann family after the disappearance of their daughter

They considered themselves as internet vigilantes that sought justice against the institutions that covered up the child abuse of Madeleine McCann, however, most of their attention is focused on insulting and goading the McCanns. They established anti-social networks like that described by Phillips (2011) to align themselves as the “in group” (Anti McCann) that subscribed to group norms against those of the “outgroup” (Pro McCann). They spammed discussion boards, disrupted legitimate conversations by personally targeting the conversation instigator with expletive comments. As well as this, they insulted the McCanns, mocked the family’s misery, revelled in the disappearance and created memes of Kate and Gerry McCann highlighting how much money they have made following the disappearance of their daughter to incite a flaming war with pro-McCann users. There are also more humorous examples of trolls that engage in trolling for a more humorous purpose. These trolls merely aim to entertain with their comments and with the flaming response of others. An example of this is Ken M who even has his own “greatest hits “dedicated Reddit