Wallowing in the fever swamps
by digby
Well yeah:
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).
It is hard to underplay the results: The study found correlations, sometimes quite significant, between these traits and trolling behavior. What's more, it also found a relationship between all Dark Tetrad traits (except for narcissism) and the overall time that an individual spent, per day, commenting on the Internet.
If you are a person who has spent any time online over the past few years, this is self-evident. There is little doubt that internet trolls, whether in comment sections or on twitter or forums, are psychopaths of some form or another. What's always interested me more than that obvious observation is how otherwise normal people sometimes turn into such trolls when they feel marginalized or misunderstood. For some it's clearly a very short trip from being a regular person just mixing it up for entertainment and becoming an internet terrorist. For others the journey is more circuitous. But I suspect that many of us could get in touch with an inner Dark Tetrad given enough time crawling around the fetid fever swamps of internet argument. I've seen it happen.
Overall, the authors found that the relationship between sadism and trolling was the strongest, and that indeed, sadists appear to troll because they find it pleasurable. "Both trolls and sadists feel sadistic glee at the distress of others," they wrote. "Sadists just want to have fun...and the Internet is their playground!"
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I haven't read the paper, but I wonder if they found any data concerning what happens when these people find others who appreciate their trolling. My experience is the witch-hunt mentality comes out strongly --- where everyone in the mob then becomes a troll.
It's an interesting psychological subject. But I've done enough "field work" for a lifetime. I'll let others figure it out.
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