'Trolls really are horrible people'

http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/climate_desk/2014/02/internet_troll_personality_study_machiavellianism_narcissism_psychopathy.html

In the past few years, the science of Internet trollology has made some strides. Last year, for instance, we learned that by hurling insults and inciting discord in online comment sections, so-called Internet trolls (who are frequently anonymous) have a polarizing effect on audiences, leading to politicization, rather than deeper understanding of scientific topics.

That’s bad, but it’s nothing compared with what a new psychology paper has to say about the personalities of trolls themselves. The research, conducted by Erin Buckels of the University of Manitoba and two colleagues, sought to directly investigate whether people who engage in trolling are characterized by personality traits that fall in the so-called Dark Tetrad: Machiavellianism (willingness to manipulate and deceive others), narcissism (egotism and self-obsession), psychopathy (the lack of remorse and empathy), and sadism (pleasure in the suffering of others).

It is hard to overplay the results: The study found correlations, sometimes quite significant, between these traits and trolling behavior. What’s more, it also found a relationship between all Dark Tetrad traits (except for narcissism) and the overall time that an individual spent, per day, commenting on the Internet.

In the study, trolls were identified in a variety of ways. One was by simply asking survey participants what they “enjoyed doing most” when on online comment sites, offering five options: “debating issues that are important to you,” “chatting with others,” “making new friends,” “trolling others,” and “other.” Here’s how different responses about these Internet commenting preferences matched up with responses to questions designed to identify Dark Tetrad traits:



E.E. Buckels et al, "Trolls just want to have fun," Personality and Individual Differences, 2014.
E.E. Buckels et al, "Trolls just want to have fun," Personality and Individual Differences, 2014.

To be sure, only 5.6 percent of survey respondents actually specified that they enjoyed “trolling.” By contrast, 41.3 percent of Internet users were “non-commenters,” meaning they didn’t like engaging online at all. So trolls are, as has often been suspected, a minority of online commenters, and an even smaller minority of overall Internet users.

The researchers conducted multiple studies, using samples from Amazon’s Mechanical Turk but also of college students, to try to understand why the act of trolling seems to attract this type of personality. They even constructed their own survey instrument, which they dubbed the Global Assessment of Internet Trolling, or GAIT, containing the following items:

I have sent people to shock websites for the lulz.

I like to troll people in forums or the comments section of websites.

I enjoy griefing other players in multiplayer games.

The more beautiful and pure a thing is, the more satisfying it is to corrupt.


Yes, some people actually say they agree with such statements. And again, doing so was correlated with sadism in its various forms, with psychopathy, and with Machiavellianism. Overall, the authors found that the relationship between sadism and trolling was the strongest, and that indeed, sadists appear to troll because they find it pleasurable. “Both trolls and sadists feel sadistic glee at the distress of others,” they wrote. “Sadists just want to have fun ... and the Internet is their playground!”

The study comes as websites, particularly at major media outlets, are increasingly weighing steps to rein in trollish behavior. Last year Popular Science did away with its comments sections completely, citing research on the deleterious effects of trolling, and YouTube also took measures to rein in trolling.

But study author Buckels actually isn’t sure that fix is a realistic one. “Because the behaviors are intrinsically motivating for sadists, comment moderators will likely have a difficult time curbing trolling with punishments (e.g., banning users),” she said by email. “Ultimately, the allure of trolling may be too strong for sadists, who presumably have limited opportunities to express their sadistic interests in a socially-desirable manner.”


Sadists? They must have come across that utterly repellent skankynymph hater that splatters its perversions all over #mccann.

As for corruption - yes, we've all seen how obsessed they are with trolling Madeleine's Facebook page.

psychopathy (the lack of remorse and empathy)

Yes, that covers just about every hater.

And we've all seen them getting their LULZ from crude, frequently obscene, photoshopping.

Was it not Snap Your Neck Spudgun that claimed no research was being done on trolls such as his chums?   

you antis stinks: this is for you nasty freaks:

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ll85u6qcv81qdezf9o1_500.gif

also this for you nasty people:

http://25.media.tumblr.com/23abf73fe973536583d0ccf6333fb3ae/tumblr_muwk5wSbn71rhxd21o3_r1_500.gif

the sign that you freaks are totally insane.

Some good points on this thread:

http://stopthemyths.prophpbb.com/post216772.html#p216772

New Nasties Thread

One quote:

I've been calling them 'anti-McCann' and 'anti-Madeleine' for years, but they are actually 'Pro-abductor'.

And to prove the point, one of Hoho's numties boasts about trolling Madeleine's FB page:

Sharon Strachan I managed to comment but its not what i said its what i implied i wonder if they have the brains or not to ban me ....... Yes people who troll GROUPS and pages are a waste of oxygen! im on a few different groups and you just KNOW when people are trolling under fake accounts! Tbh its hilarious in a way because they probably have families to look after yet sit trawling through groups and pages??! Do what i do, sit and laugh at them knowing their identities one day will be made public!

Did it give her mega-LULZ doing that?

this is for the nasty freaks:

http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs36/i/2008/263/2/4/Finger_wallpaper_by_melianish.jpg

http://www.everyjoe.com/wp-content/gallery/middle-finger-gifs/middle-finger-gif-18.gif

Hoho ordered her numties to leave Madeleine's page alone as their attacks on it were causing complaints; looks like that one didn't get the message.

bb1, that proves that numties are truly insane.

bb1 wrote:And to prove the point, one of Hoho's numties boasts about trolling Madeleine's FB page:

Sharon Strachan I managed to comment but its not what i said its what i implied i wonder if they have the brains or not to ban me ....... Yes people who troll GROUPS and pages are a waste of oxygen! im on a few different groups and you just KNOW when people are trolling under fake accounts! Tbh its hilarious in a way because they probably have families to look after yet sit trawling through groups and pages??! Do what i do, sit and laugh at them knowing their identities one day will be made public!

Did it give her mega-LULZ doing that?

Sounds like it but she should be the one to worry at her identity being made public one day.   

http://davidbretisagod.forumotion.co.uk/t558-zora-and-her-open-letter-to-the-mccanns

Unbelievable - Gonzo has some lovely supporters, not.

We knew that someone was bound to do a survey. Sadly, most of them won't realize that it's them who are being surveyed.

You're right there, Sabot. They never want to face what they are. That is that the world views them as vile and sick.

There is never going to be any end to this, Lily. That is, until they have all been arrested or popped their clogs. Fortunately most of them are quite old and not very healthy. And living in their shit state is not a recipe for a long life.

Their ignorance is only surpassed by their nastiness; doubtless their ancestors all enjoyed denouncing their poor neighbours as witches, and taking their children to public executions for a good day out.

There's a certain section of society that has always been stupid, nasty and ignorant, indeed, enjoys being like that. Unfortunately, nowadays they have keyboards, and imagine the world has to pay attention to their shrieking and pointing.

It's in the genes. They have all been losers for centuries. I just hope that they aren't infecting all of their children.

What a thought.   

lily wrote:What a thought.    

All children have two parents, Lily. Some of them escape their genes and some of them don't. This is why some of the arseholes admit that some of their children don't agree with what they do. Sadly, in these circumstances the haters think they haven't brung them up right.

Some of their kids must despair at them.

lily wrote:Some of their kids must despair at them.  

These children probably couldn't wait to get away. It was never about perfect parenting. Only about control, and guilt complexes galore. "You will support me when I am old." "I gave up my whole life for you."
Well, I didn't. Or at least I don't feel as though I did.

Imagine that? Sheesh. Who wants to be around that anyway?

They don't care about Madeleine McCann, they never did, she's just an excuse for them to vent their spleen on the world.

Even they must have noticed by now that not one person of any kind of standing in society wants anything to do with them. Doesn't that tell them anything?

They are not normal though, Bonny. They are pro-abductor, remember?

lily wrote:They are not normal though, Bonny.  They are pro-abductor, remember?  

Not sure. How many of them are Paedophiles? We have seen a few.