Today's Wednesday • 10 mins read
— By Dr. Sandip Roy.
Internet trolls can say the meanest things to you, acting like they are not afraid of anything.
But in real life, they are some of the weakest and emptiest people, looking to get some respect from others.
Many of them live nondescript lives doing average jobs. Many have a disturbed psyche.
Learn ten shocking truths about internet trolls and how to protect yourself. Bookmark this, and share it with others who might benefit from it.
1. Trolls Target The Overly Sensitive People
An internet troll’s real goal is to trigger or intensify emotional conflicts.
They deliberately provoke those most likely to react, often those oversensitive to criticism. They feel more powerful and in control when their victims show public signs of distress.
Making touchy people look bad in front of other people is fun or satisfying for trolls. Research links trolling to sadism and psychopathy (Buckels & Trapnell, 2014, Trolls just want to have fun).
➤ What To Do: See their bait early on. Remind yourself, they are trying to get a rise out of you, not move the conversation along. Don’t respond to their snide comments. Block or mute them.
2. Most Victims Are Young Adults Aged 18 to 29
Trolls specifically target young adults aged 18 to 29, likely because this age group uses social media most actively.
Pew Research Center (2021) found that 64% of adults under 30 have experienced online harassment, the highest among all age groups. Severe online abuse showed a similar pattern, with 48% of the target victims being in the 18-29 age range.
➤ What To Do: If you’re a young adult, don’t share too much private information on social media. Block abusers. Take social media breaks. Seek support from friends or family.
3. Fierce Trolls Are Often Tame In Real Life
“Online trolls are offline cowards.”
Most internet trolls have very different personalities when they’re not online. They often appear shy or unassuming in person.
A 2023 study found that people who prefer to stay anonymous online often struggle with negative self-perceptions, high self-consciousness, or low self-esteem.
The same study also found that anonymous people were more likely to engage in antisocial behaviors as they did not feel accountable for their actions.
➤ What To Do: Don’t accept connection requests before checking their online reputation. Many trolls may use new identities to re-enter your circles after being blocked.
4. Trolling Is A Modern-Day Public Flogging
As Ronson (2015) notes, trolling is the modern-day equivalent of a “town square flogging.”
Online trolls act like a mob, shaming and humiliating their targets before a watching crowd. They turn silent bystanders into fuel for these brutal digital spectacles.
Small mistakes are shown as grave faults, and the punishments meted out are unfair. The victim is made to feel and suffer far worse about their shame and distress.
➤ What To Do: Stay calm, avoid public confrontations, and report abusive content directly to moderators. Get off social media and do something else to distract yourself.
5. Trolls Thrive on Sadism and Narcissism
Trolls are high on sadism and narcissism, finding pleasure in provoking emotional reactions and exerting power over others.
Studies link trolling to dark personality traits like psychopathy and Machiavellianism, with sadists showing the strongest connection (Evita March, 2019).
➤ What To Do: Spot them early and disengage from their toxic interactions.
- Discover the 20 Signs of A Psychopath & Recognize Their Toxic Traits.
6. Anonymity Fuels Their Toxic Behavior
Anonymity online is the main reason why people harass, attack, and hurt others.
The anonymity creates an “online disinhibition effect.” Amplified by the sense of invisibility and detachment the internet provides, they act in ways they wouldn’t face-to-face.
- First, as they are a stranger online, they don’t feel embarrassed about their inappropriate behaviors.
- Second, since they are unknown and untraceable, they feel safe from any real-world consequences.
Research found that while trolling is often linked to traits like psychopathy and sadism, the desire for anonymity may be a better sign of who is likely to troll online (Nitschinsk & Tobin, 2022).
➤ What To Do: Use privacy settings to limit who can contact you. Quickly report any anonymous accounts that cross the line of social decency.
7. Trolls Use Deception to Bait and Escalate Conflict
Trolls use deception to bait a victim, writing opposing comments on their pet beliefs or “hot-button” topics to trigger negative reactions.
They escalate with harsher words, aiming to make their target overreact and appear unstable.
➤ What To Do: Recognize their tactics early and avoid taking the bait to maintain control.
8. Trolling Can Lead to Serious Mental Health Harm
Victims of trolling often experience higher levels of depression and anxiety, and lower well-being, with some even facing physical symptoms like headaches (Bonanno et al., 2013; Campbell et al., 2012).
Trolls may target those already depressed or lonely, worsening their state.
➤ What To Do: Seek support and limit exposure to toxic online spaces. If necessary, have someone accompany you when you go online on social media.
9. Trolls Crave Attention and Audience Participation
Once a victim responds, trolls gain the limelight they seek, using intense insults and bullying to draw an audience into attacking the victim. Even the silence of onlookers fuels their behavior.
➤ What To Do: Starve them of attention by not engaging and reporting their posts to the platform authorities.
10. Trolling Is a Habit, Not a One-Off Act
Almost all trolls are repeat offenders, carrying their habit across platforms and striking repeatedly. Their success in “tasting blood” motivates them to troll more often, exploiting the internet’s anonymity.
➤ What To Do: Stay vigilant by tracking patterns of harassment and using platform tools to block or mute persistent trolls.
The M.O. of Internet Trolls
Their usual M.O. (modus operandi) is as follows:
- First, they use deception to bait a victim, writing opposing comments on their pet beliefs or “hot-button” topics. They leave mean comments on their social media posts to trigger negative reactions.
- They keep at it, choosing harsher words, triggering the person to overreact. They want to show how emotionally unstable and “trigger-prone” their target is.
- Once the victim gets back at the troll, it gives them the limelight they wanted.
- Then they harass the victim with intense insults, abuse, and bullying, trying to draw the audience to join in to attack the victim. Even the silence of the audience is enough to carry on their trolling.
- Success (of having “tasted blood”) makes them troll more often. They realize they can get away with their evil behavior because the internet gives them anonymity.
- A troll may not troll every time they go online for fear of being called out for habitual bullying.
Psychology of Internet Trolls
Pew defines online harassment as using these six distinct behaviors:
- Offensive name-calling
- Purposeful embarrassment
- Stalking
- Physical threats
- Harassment over a sustained period of time
- Sexual harassment
A troller (i.e., troll) is a CMC (computer-mediated communication) user … whose real intention(s) is/are to cause disruption and/or to trigger or exacerbate conflict for their own amusement. — Claire Hardaker, 2010
- 41% of Americans have personally experienced some form of online harassment. Social media is by far the most common venue cited for harassment, with up to 75% of targets of online abuse being on social media. (The State of Online Harassment, Pew Research, 2021).
- Victims of sexual cyber dating abuse were seven times more likely to have also experienced sexual coercion (55 vs. 8 %) than were non-victims, and perpetrators of sexual cyber dating abuse were 17 times more likely to have also perpetrated sexual coercion (34 vs. 2 %) than were non-perpetrators. (Zweig & Dank, 2013).
- Trolling behavior is linked to dark personalities — sadism, narcissism, psychopathy (ASPD), and Machiavellianism, with sadists having the strongest links to trolling (Evita March, 2019).
- Trolls are mostly sadists and psychopaths. A Canadian study (“Trolls just want to have fun”) found most internet trolls have links with the Dark Tetrad of Personality (narcissists, psychopaths, sadists, and Machiavellians).
- Four critical characteristics of a troll: aggression, deception, disruption, and success (Hardaker, 2010).
Why Trolls Troll?
Internet trolls attack people rather than ideas. Shachaf and Hara (2010) found trolls act out of boredom, attention seeking, revenge, pleasure, and a desire to harm communities.
1. Personality disorders
Research shows four main factors point to who might become an internet troll:
- High scores in sadism: they find pleasure in other people’s pain (Sest & March, 2017)
- High psychopathy: less concerned about others’ feelings (Buckels & Trapnell, 2014)
- High “negative social potency”: enjoy being mean to others (Craker & March, 2016)
- Low “affective empathy”: they do not feel what others feel (Sest & March, 2017)
Some trolls have had oppressive experiences and want to teach people a lesson about the harsh online world. Some blame their trolling behavior on their troubled past lives (NYT interview).
2. Anonymity and disinhibition effect
The internet provides a veil of anonymity, which can lead to the “online disinhibition effect.” Most trolls carry their trolling habit with them everywhere they roam online. Almost all trolls are repeat offenders.
3. Compensation for insecurity
Some trolls troll to make up for feelings of inadequacy, powerlessness, insecurity, or social anxiety in their real lives. For them, trolling is a coping mechanism. Being aggressive or offensive lets them feel a sense of control or dominance.
4. Social experimentation
Some trolls see it as a form of social experimentation. They are curious about how far they can push boundaries or how others will react to their actions. This can be a way to explore different aspects of their personality that they cannot express in their everyday lives.
5. Escapism and role-playing
For some, trolling can be a form of escapism or role-playing. They adopt a troll persona as a way to escape the pressures or monotony of their real lives. This persona allows them to act out fantasies or behaviors that they would never engage in offline, providing a temporary escape from their usual timid or gentle nature.
Effects on Trolling Victims
Victims of online trolls have:
- Higher levels of depression (Bonanno et al., 2013)
- More anxiety (Campbell et al., 2012), and
- Lower levels of well-being (Heiman et al., 2018).
- More headaches, stomachaches, and bed-wetting among students (Rao et al., 2018).
Further Reading:
- The Cyber Effect: A Pioneering Cyberpsychologist Explains How Human Behaviour Changes (Book) by Mary Aiken, 2016
- Political Cyberbullying: Perpetrators and Targets of a New Digital Aggression (Book) by Sheri Bauman, 2019
- Cyberbullying and psychological well-being in young adolescence (Research paper by Hellfeldt & López-Romero, 2019.
History of Internet Trolling
- Internet trolling began in the early 1980s when it was called “flaming.” It involved heated arguments or personal attacks in online communities like newsgroups and bulletin board systems (BBS).
- The term “trolling” originated in the early 1990s. It was initially used to describe provocative behavior that aimed at triggering strong reactions from others, often for entertainment.
- The rise of anonymous platforms (e.g., 4chan, Reddit) in the 2000s enabled trolling to explode by allowing users to act without accountability.
- Today, “trolling” is used interchangeably with cyberbullying. Cyberbullies often know their victims, and their abuse is often targeted and repeated, and could be posted for others to see.
- Researchers identify trolling as a form of online sadism (Buckels et al., 2014).
Final Words
Trolling is ultimately a form of online bullying and harassment (Pew Research, 2014).
Sadly, it has become an economic activity. Celebrities and politicos hire troll farms to insult, shame, and cancel their opponents. These troll gangs scour the internet for any post critical of their employers, which they attack with a volley of vile insults.
√ Also Read: 8 Ways To Defeat An Internet Troll (Including The Best One)
√ Please spread the word if you found this helpful.
