[Air-L] Is there any published research on "trolling"?

[Thomas Jones]

Let's not other that often trolls are individuals, who obviously tend to be introverted, are often highly intelligent in their social awkwardness - akin to those with aspergers.

It are these same people who contribute to the underlying fabric of slashdot for example, who also predominantly created Wikipedia.

So, trolls do actually provide a useful purpose, dependent on how they are motivated.


Thomas Jones
@othertomjones
http://about.me/othertomjones

Sent from my iPhone

On Jul 25, 2012, at 2:15 PM, "Burcu Bakioglu" <bbakiogl at gmail.com> wrote:

> Oh yes... most definitely! 4chan gave birth to lolAnons (trolls that hacked
> and defaced 7000 MySpace profiles with gay porn) and Anonymous (the
> hacktivist collective) at the same time. SL group The Wrong Hands have
> conducted two hacktivist initiatives in SL against two other groups:
> Justice League Unlimited (paper forthcoming) and Modular Systems (paper
> will be written) and exposed major surveillance and datamining operations.
> So yes, they are adorable that way :P (*joke*)
> 
> Also if you're one to get easily offended, I recommend not researching the
> topic at all. The amount of racist, homophobic, and sexist language/slurs
> that I encountered, along with porn I have consumed within the last decade
> or so is insane. Generally, if it pisses you off and is sure to bring them
> the media attention, they won't shy away from it. Think of Anshe Chung  who
> was SL's first self-proclaimed millionaire back in the day and who made it
> to the cover of the Business Week. In her in-world CNet interview, goons
> plummeted her with flying penises and crashed the sim... Then posted the
> recording on YouTube. Bunch DMCA complaints ensued, nothing came out of it,
> of course. Good times :P
> 
> But, if your concern is to keep your blogs safe, you know all you need to
> know by now :) There is nothing more to it, really. If there is, I am
> willing to learn...
> 
> BsB
> 
> On Wed, Jul 25, 2012 at 12:59 PM, Kyle Kontour <kkontour at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>> My two cents:  not only are trolls best dealt with by being ignored, there
>> are times that they serve a useful function in disrupting groupthink,
>> pile-ons, and so-called "epistemic closure".  By contrast, they can also
>> foment the opposite, in group solidarity and re-affirmation of views (it
>> depends on how other folks deal with the trolls).  I would count trolls as
>> being an irritating, often awful, but nonetheless integral part of online
>> ecology--a bit like mosquitoes or certain parasites.
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> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> Thanks,
> 
> Burcu S. Bakioglu, Ph.D.
> Postdoctoral Fellow in New Media
> Lawrence University
> 
> http://www.palefirer.com
> http://palefirer.com/blog/
> 
> --
> "Come to the dark side, we have cookies."
> ~Anonymous
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