by Ryan Baker, Fred Chasen, Christina Pham, Rohan Salantry
A new study by Nottingham Trent University study describes “trolling” as “intentionally provoking or antagonizing users in an online environment” and found that 60% of gamers had engaged in this behavior[i]. However, the definition of what constitutes trolling has evolved as new opportunities to interact have developed online. The behavior now has several faces which depend on the community, and on the motivation of the trolling user. Anonymous users of low social standing may troll to disrupt existing communities, whereas community members of high social standing may use trolling to alienate new users, behavior that could be described as bullying. Internet groups sometimes act collectively to troll other communities or targets to make political statements, or simply for amusement. This essay will examine several of these different troll types, and the motivations behind them.
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