Troll Psychology: A discussion on ‘internet bullying’

[Sonya610]

That's exactly how it happens.

Yeah and that just doesn't make sense to me. In my mind "being bullied" means you can't get away from them (like at school or even work, they can and will come after you and you can't avoid them).

Online you can make anyone disappear from your reality with just one click of a button -- no one can harass you if you don't let them. I have found if people start targeting you on forums or anywhere else it is best to put them on ignore sooner rather than later, don't let them get under your skin and don't try to "reason" with them. If you ignore them early on the situation won't escalate.

 

[Confusion]

Yeah and that just doesn't make sense to me. In my mind "being bullied" means you can't get away from them (like at school or even work, they can and will come after you and you can't avoid them).

Online you can make anyone disappear from your reality with just one click of a button -- no one can harass you if you don't let them.

Just like real life bullies. They can't pick on you if you don't leave home. The thing about bullies is that they don't just pick on one person and act sweet and loving with everyone else; if they chase off one victim, they'll just choose a new one. Why should all but a few kids have to play in some dirty alley just because a bully wants the playground for only him and his friends? Likewise, why should someone here (as an example) have to leave the forums to avoid being criticized, insulted, etc. constantly? On most sites, there is a way to report the bully, and I think more people need to use that button rather than the ignore button.

I have had people who annoy me a lot online, but only a couple of them were people I'd consider to be bullies. One happened to be a poster on a site I moderated who got way over the line with other posters and the staff. I finally talked to our manager to see if there was a way to block him and his other personae more long-term/permanently. He asked who it was, looked up the account information and got back to me a few minutes later saying the problem was solved. It happened to be the 14 year old son of somebody he knew; he called the kid's mother and she took away his computer for 6 months. He was a changed person when he finally did come back.

 

[Sonya610]

Likewise, why should someone here (as an example) have to leave the forums to avoid being criticized, insulted, etc. constantly? On most sites, there is a way to report the bully, and I think more people need to use that button rather than the ignore button.

A lot of sites are poorly moderated or the mods simply do not care. All websites and most all chat rooms are privately run therefore the owners dictate the rules. Sometimes the owners/admins are fair, sometimes not. If people don't like how things are run they can leave.

It is like when people claim "they have the right to free speech" on forums, there IS NO RIGHT to free speech when you are posting on a site unless you OWN that site.

 

[Confusion]

A lot of sites are poorly moderated or the mods simply do not care. All websites and most all chat rooms are privately run therefore the owners dictate the rules. Sometimes the owners/admins are fair, sometimes not. If people don't like how things are run they can leave.

It is like when people claim "they have the right to free speech" on forums, there IS NO RIGHT to free speech when you are posting on a site unless you OWN that site.

It's very seldom the people who are running the site who are the problem. I personally don't think most people would enjoy a site where the admins encouraged/condoned bullying, so I don't really think that has much to do with what I was talking about (I can't speak for other people about what they were). In most cases, the mods are overworked, but will eventually remove offensive posts; they'll do it sooner if people use report rather than ignore more often, or worse yet responding.

I'm sure there are more people who agree with you about just leaving if someone bothers you, but I've seen too many people run off from various sites. There may be truth in what people say, but it still bothers me to have them saying that the target needs to get a thicker skin, should just leave if they're offended, should just grow up and act like an adult, and 101 other things. I'd prefer to see them reporting the attacks rather than laughing about them, joining in or just ignoring them, and I have left forums because of bullies even though I wasn't attacked personally.

 

[Tricia]

I have been online for 15 years and been involved in plenty of arguments and met my share of unpleasant people however I don't EVER recall seeing anyone truly bullied. I have seen people PICKED ON for quite a while because they are stupid and keep begging for more but never bullied.

I can see high school kids that know each other in REAL LIFE bullying each other on face book but honestly I don't quite see how that happens with adults.

I assume "bullying" does not refer to someone stalking another and digging up R/L info but tht others are "mean" to someone.

How does that happen with adults? Why don't they just ignore (possible on most forums and chats) the offending personas or leave the forum/chat/whatever?

In my case Websleuths is not only something I love dearly but it is business.

When the personal attacks happened to me(and continue to this day) my son, my family, my friends, and God knows how who else, all read them and became upset.

The out right falsehoods posted by people angry at me for banning them are really horrific.

I do ignore most of it but I am here to tell you it hurts and it is awful. Yes it does affect me.

If people criticize me that's fine. Go for it. It's the cruel comments about my looks or the lies that I have done this or that cut deep. Especially when my son reads them.

My real name and all my personal info is out there. That makes mean easy target.

If it was just me posting on some board anonymously and I was being attack I think I could ignore it.

What is happening more and more is these trolls are finding out personal info about people even if they are posting anonymously . Then they use what they know to continue the harassment with their new info.

It is important to remember how powerful our words really are and to always remember there is a real person reading what you write.

Thanks

Trixia

 

[Bipolar Express]

It's really weird but a good friend of a friend is a self proclaimed troll. I was shocked when I was told this. I asked my friend why this person did it and apparently it is for sheer amusement. She thinks its funny that people get enraged over what is said online.,, so she stirs the pots and sits back and laughs. Meeting this person, one would never guess.....sees one hundred percent normal.,,,,,

 

[Sonya610]

My real name and all my personal info is out there. That makes mean easy target.

If it was just me posting on some board anonymously and I was being attack I think I could ignore it.

Your situation is very unique. Yes this is a business, you use your real name, but also the very nature of this site means you are likely to peeve off people that are aggressive and unbalanced (i.e. crazy relatives/friends of folks that are accused or convicted of horrible crimes).

What is happening more and more is these trolls are finding out personal info about people even if they are posting anonymously . Then they use what they know to continue the harassment with their new info.

Yes it is getting easier to find out real info because so many are using Facebook, Photobucket, and other sites that advertise their real name, friends, family, personal photos, etc... The mean folks aren't getting smarter, there are just a lot more naive people online these days. Plus the Internet superpowers like Google and Facebook are actively encouraging folks to link everything up to their real identities for marketing purposes.

If someone is posting real life info that is not trolling, I believe that is called "doxing", it is intended to humiliate individuals and/or force them off certain websites or out of online social circles.

Trolling is very specific, it isn't stalking and it isn't personal to an individual. It is simply making statements that will fire up random people's emotions and get a response, people that have a sense of humor usually laugh when they realize they got all upset over a troll that was cleverly pushing their buttons and causing folks to freak out behind their keyboards with just a few statements (but then again a lot of folks on the internet take themselves too seriously). Trolls have a sense of humor.

 

[~n/t~]

Time is up for Twitter trolls and bullies

Acting Prime Minister Wayne Swan joined the #StoptheTrolls campaign even as a malicious and obscene tweet was sent to Julia Gillard over the death of her father John.
"This is a very worthwhile initiative by The Daily Telegraph that we fully support. Anonymous abuse and harassment can have devastating consequences," Mr Swan said.

"Some of the abuse that gets thrown at people on the internet makes me sick to the stomach. It takes a particular type of gutlessness to fire off the sort of anonymous abuse we've seen recently."

More at the link

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/ti...lls-and-bulllies/story-e6frf7jo-1226472133504

 

[~n/t~]

Victory over cyber bullies: Legal first as High Court orders Facebook to reveal trolls who tormented mother for defending X Factor star

A mother who was sent death threats by so-called internet ‘trolls’ has won a landmark legal case against Facebook.
Nicola Brookes was tormented for months by anonymous internet bullies after she left an innocent message of support for an X Factor contestant on the social networking site.
She went to police to make a complaint but claimed officers told her to go home.

Now she has won a legal order forcing Facebook to disclose the identities of the trolls. It is the first time an individual has won such an order and Miss Brookes, 45, hopes to pursue private prosecutions against those responsible for her months of ‘vicious and depraved’ abuse.
Charities said the High Court ruling sent a message to the cyber bullies that their anonymity can be stripped away, leaving them open to prosecution.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...t-backing-reveal-identities-targeted-her.html

 

[JeannaT]

It's really weird but a good friend of a friend is a self proclaimed troll. I was shocked when I was told this. I asked my friend why this person did it and apparently it is for sheer amusement. She thinks its funny that people get enraged over what is said online.,, so she stirs the pots and sits back and laughs. Meeting this person, one would never guess.....sees one hundred percent normal.,,,,,

Hmm. Well, it depends on what it is that's "stirring the pot". If it's something like what I posted upthread about appropriate pet mice cage bedding and people get their knickers in a knot over that, to me that IS funny. I wasn't doing it on purpose, I just wanted to know about odor control bedding options but what happened next was truly funny.

My husband is a collector of Omega watches and he showed me the most vicious, angry, cut throat argument on a forum, fed by trolls, about whether you should repair an Omega with Omega parts, or whether it was okay to use cheaper generic parts. It was really funny, honestly.

But trolls who post purposely cruel things when people are hurting are another thing all together.