Hi DocJohn,

I suddenly realized you would be the perfect person to ask for recommendations for online reading about trolls and why they interfere with forums, newsgroups, boards etc., if you have time.

I'd be very interested to read what psychologists/psychiatrists have to say about the reasons for this behaviour - any suggestions? Nothing too technical, pleeease, but I would like to read some reasonably in-depth stuff rather than the pop psychology peddled around the net, if poss.

No rush, whenever...
Many thanks and all the best

[mrsD]

I find trolls very complex...but they have one ingredient I guess that is
dominant. They need attention...and love to provoke people just to get it.
They also like to bully others. Kids and teens often "troll" for fun. You know like anon phone calls of the past ~~ "Is your refrigerator running? Yes? Well go catch it" ~~~ type stuff. When the older troll comes on, there must be more
complex dynamics driving them.

I hope DocJohn answers. I am really interested in this subject too.

One of the best troll descriptions I found over the years is at The Cure Zone.
You might find it interesting too!
http://curezone.com/forums/troll.asp

[DocJohn]

There has been very little good empirical research on this topic, despite it being an issue now for nearly 2 decades I'd say (starting back with the Usenet newsgroups).

The short answer is simple -- there are a great variety of personalities in the world and before the Internet/online became commonplace, we were exposed to only a small minority of such personalities in our lives. We tend to choose to not be around people we don't like/don't get along with, and that usually works in almost every face-to-face situation (except family, which is the usual exception for almost everything).

Online, however, we have less control over how we get exposed to people we don't like, and people who have personality or control issues take advantage of this dynamic. The Internet gives everyone more power (to get their voices heard, for instance), but at the same time hasn't always kept up with giving others the tools to ignore those just looking for attention or control.

Since there will always be people seeking attention or control, the Internet has simply made it easier for these people to be rewarded and reinforced for their behaviors.

Hope this helps.

John

[Wittesea]

Maybe this will help...

The Psychology of Cyberspace-
http://www.rider.edu/~suler/psycyber/psycyber.html

[Jomar]

Beware The Troll

A Practical Guide

I wanted to copy this but it says I can only link to it- short and sweet advice for dealing with trolls and trollish behaviors.

http://www.teamtechnology.co.uk/troll.htm

[redjpwranglergirl]

Great question, artist and thanks so much to Doc John for answering it. I haven't had a chance to read Wittesea's and Jo55's links but I'm going there next. Very interesting topic and I think any of us who participate in an online forum or even one forum in particular have seen this happen unfortunately. I've always thought myself that it was a way of seeking attention. Even though it's not always easy, I think the best thing is to try to ignore them because otherwise we're giving them encouragement.

[mrsD]

I read some of those links you provided.

What a useful--- yet scary read!