Why are people trolls online?

renegade

Staff member
Super Mod
Came across an image today which had this question and it left me wondering. We have had our own fair share of trolls on TE and we may know some of them personally too. Surely a lot of them are their different selves offline. So what do think changes them when online, what is it that makes a seemingly normal person a troll when online.
 
Apart from what @SunnyBoi said, there are many psychological reasons that I had read on this. It ranges from:

1. A different side of their actual personality - They have this in them and cant express in real world from fear of consequences. Those who dont fear, enagage in bullying or more severe means
2. A false side of their actual personality - They dont have this side yet try to do this to fit in and appear "strong" online while they might not feel "strong" in the real world
3. A thrill or rush from doing it. Getting attention or acknowledged. The reason why famous people are targeted more cause you wouldnt otherwise have access to them in real world
4. A herd behaviour getting encouraged to do it or encouraging others and joining in
5. For many people, its just purely 'fun'.
 
IMO, lack of consequences. They generally have a desire to act out in a certain way that they know for sure will cause them to get thumped, fired from their job or put in a jail so they do it at a place where they wont face any action.

Internet trolling is just the beginning boss. First deal with fake calls i.e harass or trap the victim by changing your caller id to that of the victim

 
Came across an image today which had this question and it left me wondering. We have had our own fair share of trolls on TE and we may know some of them personally too. Surely a lot of them are their different selves offline. So what do think changes them when online, what is it that makes a seemingly normal person a troll when online.
Isn't TE Guys strong enough to handle Idiots/Trolls whatever ?
Why make a nuisance ? (afaik you are admin/staff) or whatever..

http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20151021-we-went-hunting-for-trolls-and-found-a-deeper-truth (very off topic though)

 
@Futureized - that's besides the point. TE has been around since 2005 and has seen troll wars of various magnitudes.

The question was more towards how much we understand about the psychological state of people and how we respond to that need to be trolls. The first 3 replies in this thread have taken that discussion forward.

@blr_p - Guess its the case of extremes, wicked hearted and weak hearted. One set of people who want to belittle and bully everyone else. And then there is another who want to live in a protective bubble and cannot take a counter argument.

@puns - If you get their real identity out on the internet then they may behave very differently, more responsibly. Probably one of the benefits of linking Aadhar with social media accounts. That however opens up a huge can of worms like zero privacy and state surveillance.
 
TE has been around since 2005 and has seen troll wars of various magnitudes.
I don't recall any. But you are more on the receiving end here and see more. Unless you want to include bullying but that happens any where.

Where things got heated was in the sales threads or people finding they did not get what they were promised.
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@blr_p - Guess its the case of extremes, wicked hearted and weak hearted. One set of people who want to belittle and bully everyone else. And then there is another who want to live in a protective bubble and cannot take a counter argument.
It's a different dynamic in social media. If you're not in some community like forum then you are on a follow page.

That page then becomes their space to promote themselves as a brand. Pointing things out is bad so its block this and that. So over time all you find are suck ups commenting.
 
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Trolling was a niche, when there were a few witty people who did it for the 'lulz', and others enjoyed it too. Now, everyone dumbass is trying to be witty and edgy, and a troll in everything that they do, online and offline. Tasteless bunch who want all the attention. It's also what others have already said in this thread - it's because there are no consequences short-term or long-term. Freedom, without the hassles of responsibility. Signs of a quickly degrading society with poor mental health.
 
so what is the resolution to fake calling guys?
Internet trolling is just the beginning boss. First deal with fake calls i.e harass or trap the victim by changing your caller id to that of the victim

 
Now a days people troll mostly because its a fashion these days as everyday we keep hearing trolling on some or the other persons.
To try to fit themselves in that troll audience.
Other reasons are like frustrations & dislike.

Not to offend but like we have mutton biryani, krishna tiwari, jumma sharabi or chicken nawabi.... One will say something using either of these ids and once got trolled, cover up with another ids supporting the op or discussion. This in return flames more and then the entire jungle is under fire. Heat wave!!
 
Now a days people troll mostly because its a fashion these days as everyday we keep hearing trolling on some or the other persons.
To try to fit themselves in that troll audience.
Other reasons are like frustrations & dislike.

Not to offend but like we have mutton biryani, krishna tiwari, jumma sharabi or chicken nawabi.... One will say something using either of these ids and once got trolled, cover up with another ids supporting the op or discussion. This in return flames more and then the entire jungle is under fire. Heat wave!!

Posting on the forum using secondary accounts requires moderation for the first few posts. Admins have made the process pretty hard so none can do anything except for those who speak in their favor aka fake accounts, just so you know. My own account has slow browsing enabled so I won’t be able to make posts versus browsing forum in private mode
 
To be honest, the internet itself is a piece of trollwork. Maybe in future we can have Aadhaar based verification for everything using a device, but that seems less likely as this forum is just one of many created using a service not from India??? Perhaps unique machine ID based verification could be the savior, but then again ppl would use Parallel Space app and incognito Chrome with it. Even a Virtual Private Server can make you untraceable for trolling means that are not bound for legal action. In Instagram you can make up to 5 accounts/device Android/iOS. After that you can use Parrallel Space to sandbox the app/change machine ID to create more accounts.
 
Trolling, coz why not? Surprised people are in favor of Aadhar based surveillance. Why make the government the king of trolls too?
 
so what is the resolution to fake calling guys?

Guys first solution to the problem would be not to piss anybody off in real life ;)

And mark my words, if they know your landline no. they can fake call for 5 hours straight just past midnight. If you can't handle it, then disconnect your landline cable and change your mobile no. because there is no traceability to such things even if you file a FIR ;)
 
Internet trolling is just the beginning boss. First deal with fake calls i.e harass or trap the victim by changing your caller id to that of the victim


About this- It is also hypothetically possible for one person to have an adult chat with his friend's girlfriend for as long as he desires. For that these are the checklist-

1.) First and most important that she should not recognize the caller by voice or suspect the caller
2.) The caller should have enough credits or buy credits on the desired app to make the call
3.) One should know his friend extremely well and how he converses with his girlfriend in college or workplace
4.) Rest depends on the caller on how well he can convince her to go dirty on call by impersonating his friend's phone no.
 
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