DEFINITION OF A TROLL:
A troll is *CMC user who constructs the identity of
sincerely wishing to be part of the group in question, including professing, or conveying pseudo-sincere intentions, but whose real intention(s)
is/are to cause disruption and/or to trigger or exacerbate conflict for the
purposes of their own amusement (Hardaker, 2010)
sincerely wishing to be part of the group in question, including professing, or conveying pseudo-sincere intentions, but whose real intention(s)
is/are to cause disruption and/or to trigger or exacerbate conflict for the
purposes of their own amusement (Hardaker, 2010)
Four Dimensions of Trolling:
Based on a qualitative study on Internet user discussions of trolling, Hardaker (2010) distinguishes four key, interrelated dimensions of trolling: “deception, aggression, disruption, and success.”
I. DECEPTION: Firstly, a troll, operating under a cloak of anonymity provided by the Internet, practices the deception of others. To elaborate, trolls attempt to pose as legitimate members of the online community, and once they have developed false identities and gained acceptance within a group, they “ set about disrupting proceedings while trying to maintain [their] cover[s]” (Dahlberg, 2001). Disguised under ostensibly legitimate personas, trolls endeavor to garner sincere responses from unsuspecting users, ultimately seeking the opportunity to provoke them in some way.
II. DISRUPTION: Trolling involves the disruption of other users’ online activities. Specifically, trolls lure people into “useless, circular discussion, which though not necessarily aggressive in itself, may frustrate others in its unproductive nature” (Hardaker, 2010).
III. AGGRESSION: In order to cause disruption, trolls generally adopt aggressive behaviors—“often described as “hostile,” “snotty,” and “idiotic” by other users—“undertaken with the aim of annoying or goading others into retaliating,” (Hardaker, 2010).
IV. SUCCESS: Users typically perceive trolling in terms of the troll’s observed success in deceiving and disrupting other people. They measure the troll’s degree of success by his or her ability to elicit a number of genuine responses, such as “anger, shock, and curiosity,” or a “demonstration by the respondent that he had unwittidngly been deceived by the troller’s professed pseudo-intent, and was unaware of her real intent” (Hardaker, 2010). Hence, they deem a trolling attempt a failure if other people accurately construe an intent to troll, remain unperturbed by the troll’s actions, and/or simply do not react in any way.
*CMC = computer-mediated-communication; Internet
I. DECEPTION: Firstly, a troll, operating under a cloak of anonymity provided by the Internet, practices the deception of others. To elaborate, trolls attempt to pose as legitimate members of the online community, and once they have developed false identities and gained acceptance within a group, they “ set about disrupting proceedings while trying to maintain [their] cover[s]” (Dahlberg, 2001). Disguised under ostensibly legitimate personas, trolls endeavor to garner sincere responses from unsuspecting users, ultimately seeking the opportunity to provoke them in some way.
II. DISRUPTION: Trolling involves the disruption of other users’ online activities. Specifically, trolls lure people into “useless, circular discussion, which though not necessarily aggressive in itself, may frustrate others in its unproductive nature” (Hardaker, 2010).
III. AGGRESSION: In order to cause disruption, trolls generally adopt aggressive behaviors—“often described as “hostile,” “snotty,” and “idiotic” by other users—“undertaken with the aim of annoying or goading others into retaliating,” (Hardaker, 2010).
IV. SUCCESS: Users typically perceive trolling in terms of the troll’s observed success in deceiving and disrupting other people. They measure the troll’s degree of success by his or her ability to elicit a number of genuine responses, such as “anger, shock, and curiosity,” or a “demonstration by the respondent that he had unwittidngly been deceived by the troller’s professed pseudo-intent, and was unaware of her real intent” (Hardaker, 2010). Hence, they deem a trolling attempt a failure if other people accurately construe an intent to troll, remain unperturbed by the troll’s actions, and/or simply do not react in any way.
*CMC = computer-mediated-communication; Internet