To ask you about trolling?

[waltermittymissus]

Why do they do it, in your opinion?

Not just on MN but in general. Some of the comments I've seen about the April Jones case for example just turned my stomach.

I used to frequent another parenting forum where someone had posted that she had terminal cancer and wanted ideas so her little girl wouldn't forget her. In turned out to be complete bullshit.

So, who does it and why???

Attention seeking? I think some people thrive off adrenaline and don't get enough of it in real life...

Some people are looking for attention. Some people have real issues. Some people have a twisted sense of humor.

And some people are just twats.

The attention thing confuses me though because it's a computer. Virtual. Anonymous. So it's not real is it?

I don't know. The mind boggles!

IMO, I think a lot are bored teenagers looking for a laugh at others. Sad really.

I dont know how they find the time, I have enough difficulty keeping up with reading stuff never mind long convoluted fantasy stories though admit I dont always suss Trolls

Some people get a perverse pleasure out of upsetting or enraging others. Power? Attention? Boredom?

IMO they are a little bit mentally unstable in one, if not many, ways. They like to shock, even though they can only read the shocked reactions. Much of it is not normal behaviour and needs special attention if you ask me.

I think some people come to believe their own lies, perhaps? It's very weird.

But a lot of people do put real time, effort and emotional energy into trying to help a convincing troll, which I guess is the "attention" draw.

If they have a dramatic story which keeps pulling people in, it's a buzz, knowing that real people are reacting and emoting and connecting with this. Also, because it's anonymous it can potentially go on for longer and be repeated more than in real life, in RL a drama king/queen is outed fairly quickly and they can no longer convince friends and families of their latest dramas, they become wise to it. Whereas a troll might get banned from one forum, but there are literally millions more - they just move on and try again somewhere else.

My DSis encountered a troll on the IMDB forums who had sock puppet accounts who came on and announced her "death by suicide" to the other forum members

Sad people with sad lives looking for something to fill the void.

well they're not that hidden. The twat from Chorley wasn't a teenager either.

Bertie yes! There was a similar thread on here where the troll was 2 posters and said poster 1 had been hospitalised! All very odd.

Having used internet forums for around 18yrs or so, I can honestly say there seems to be a whole host of different reasons for people trolling.

For some it seems to be...

Boredom
Attention seeking
Münchhausen by proxy server (Arf!)
Deception - because they see making up a sob story as a money earner
Delusions of grandeur - making up a more 'interesting' life than the one they lead
Down right evil nastiness
Other MH problems

There are so many reasons but what you have to remember when you're on a chat forum/internet, is that as well as the people who you'd choose to speak to in RL...there are also some people you'd run a mile from.

You know the filthy drunk guy who shouts random abuse at people?

Or the evangelistical woman who doesn't stop banging on in a shouty voice and scares the life out of you?

Or the dirty pervert you'd die protecting your children from?

Well those people use the internet too...so when you think about it like that, who knows why anyone does anything as nasty as trolling.

Umm you do realise your nickname is incredibly ironic or is that the point, waltermitty?

There was an interesting story about this in the Guardian last week. One of their writers was (really viciously) trolled by a teenage son of one of his friends. Weird. The kid seemed to be just a bored and slightly fucked up teenager, but it definitely left lots of unanswered questions about how a person gets so wrapped up in these things and how horribly serious it can be.

www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/sep/26/day-confronted-troll

It's human nature really that's adapted to the internet age. so instead of prank calls, poison pen letters, fake letters to agony aunts, and good old fashioned compulsive liars, we have internet trolls instead.

Lol Proud! I assure you the name is because of my weird obsession with love of Danny Kaye movies!

Good point about the prank calls. I guess it's just nuisance evolution?

I hate to think, as a PP said, that people pour their heart and souls into helping someone. Even share very personal and upsetting details. All so some spotty 17 year old can get his/her kicks.

worra your post gave me chills! But you are absolutely right. We just don't know who we're engaging with do we? Scary!