Do trolls feel better when they have trolled! And why!

[Justasking8787878787]

I don't get trolls. Do they feel better when they have made others feel bad - are they targeting all their hate at someone in their life and all the people who are affected are just collateral damage? Do they sleep better when they have drooled and trolled over everything?

Trolls - What do you get out of it?

Unfortunately some people do feel better knowing that they’ve made someone else feel bad/upset/outraged/whatever other strong emotion. I can’t imagine they have happy, fulfilling lives to feel better by making others feel bad! It’s why it’s best to ignore them I suppose, any response feeds them but likely doesn’t help the person responding.

I think it must be a control thing. They get a kick out of influencing someone else's emotions.

Whilst it can be very upsetting to witness when they do it to someone clearly vulnerable who is at genuine risk of harm, I suppose you have to think about how unfulfilling and empty their real life is for them to spend time trolling. It's not something that happy people do. I pity them.

Who knows but I do always wonder what they are like in real life. If they are just as nasty or whether it’s a completely different persona online?

Plenty of people try to make themselves feel better and more important by, instead of trying to elevate their own position, believing they achieve the same differential by pushing other people down.

Thank you for your responses, I do appreciate it have had a few days when I have felt the wrath on mumsnet (not just on my behalf but others) and it just makes me feel very sad. Not just the comments but the amount of them.

I know a thread about trolls isn't a good thing but I just don't get it. Why feel better for making someone feel bad? I will never get it. I try to take comfort that is a good thing but I just am sick of it and wish people didn't have to get used to the sheer nastiness that is often present. This is supposed to be a supportive place and I think about the people who have been affected and will be affected and I wish I could just make it go away. If only. Thank you again. You are kind people.

It’s the ones who start nonsense threads that get me. Someone started one about getting over a married man in the 30-days-only forum earlier today.

It was so clearly a load of old shit.

It was Friday night UK time, the Friday before Christmas, and they were trolling MN. I mean, how much of friendless loser do you have to be??

I don’t understand what motivates them, and what they get out of it.

I also don’t understand why people fall for such obvious nonsense.

I mean, maybe that’s what they get out of it, people replying earnestly and all indignantly, believing their fiction.

But even so, if that constitutes a good Friday night, life must be pretty shit for them.

I don’t know if it’s trolling as such but My brother in law (and dsis actually) are always arguing on local forums for absolutely no reason. I don’t know why - both of them are spoiled and immature in real life and obviously think they know best.
everyone else justs laughs at them - they don’t hide their identities - even the kids will not bring cringe posts to us to laugh at. Dsis will argue in real life too if the mood takes her - highly opinionated. Dbil is much more snidy and wouldn’t say boo to a goose. They have some real on line humdingers about trivial shit - dsis almost came to blows with someone on the school parents one! The thing is when she is ranting her grammar goes out and off the window which matters as it makes her long posts really hard to decipher!

I have noticed on here that some people do have a weird level of nastiness directed to strangers on the internet they have never met and have no idea the vulnerability of that persons mental health, and you can just feel the vile hatred in their words… I don’t understand why some people are like that, there’s no need, if you disagree with someone why not just discuss it in a civil way. There’s no need for bullying and name calling. I bet they wouldn’t dare say it to peoples faces 🤔

I think the best thing to do is just report personal attacks when you see them. This site should be a place of support not bullying.

I assume they're just non famous versions of Jeremy Clarkson and Piers Morgan, and do it for the attention.

I think they are the sort of people who struggle to make friends and feel invisible. They have no confidence and the only way they can give themselves any sort of "presence" is to hide behind the internet. They give themselves a form of power that they wouldn't have in real life. I'm guessing they feel short changed in life and want people to feel as shit as they do.

I feel no sympathy for them as lots of people feel this way without turning into online bullies.

Some people like a row. Some feel better about themselves on the back of making others feel worse. Some genuinely are so sure they are right. And for some there's a higher purpose, to fight a cause, sway public opinion etc.

"Some people like a row. Some feel better about themselves on the back of making others feel worse"

sadly, I think these two are so right.

when people were saying Twitter would shut down, a cabbie told me he would be sad because when things get too much, his tactic to feel better is to "start a row with a stranger - Twitter is so great for that! "

I think there’s so many different types of trolls and they all get something different out of it.

Some are looking for sexual kicks. The ones asking for private stories about anything from toilet habits to sex toys or peoples sexual experiences.

Some that come here, simply dislike women. So they like to post something that will irritate and make women angry. That can be starting their own threads or answering them.

Some are bored. Some need attention. Some are just angry in general.

Then there’s the ones that skirt the lines of trolling. Long term posters that change their story hugely from thread to thread. Only including the bits they need to get what they want from threads. Not small details. But like posting they had multiple affairs behind their husbands back, then another post pretending that they left their marriage just because they were unhappy and can’t understand why their kids are upset with them. Not a clear troll. Not necessarily lying, but being very selective with the details to feed what they feel they need at the time.

The thing they all have in common, imo, is that they all must be quite unhappy in their own lives and they must get something out of it.

Some are looking for sexual kicks. The ones asking for private stories about anything from toilet habits to sex toys or peoples sexual experiences.

Some people buy 'cleaned to eBay standards' used shoes online to sniff and others pay to have people poo on them. Just remember that whenever you're thinking about trolls: "But NOBODY would actually WANT to do that, would they?!"

I'm guessing it's an adrenaline thing.

I wonder the same about drivers. So many aggressive people out on the roads, are they like that in real life or just because they have the anonymity of being behind a wheel? Here on MN I think there are some who just like to bring misery to others, twist words that arent even there and focus in on the one detail that they can distort to make the OP feel worse. I think they must have a shit life behind the screen.

All different kinds of trolls as has been stated. Yes they are the hideously nasty ones. Then there are the unbelievable ones - who discover an affair and have been to the solicitor within a day and everyone is telling them how strong they are. The reality for some is that they are friendless and this imaginary tale gives them something to entertain themselves. Who knows maybe they even believe it and get a kick from the words back ? Let me think - eg woman whose H has left her for another, they share a business and still have to work together every day , she can see his house from hers, she has teenage kids and the effect on them, so much support on MN as to how well she is doing, the stories become slightly lurid , she starts to show some of her "personal" life in weird photos 🤔 These threads can be long running too.