The term trolling is defined as someone who purposely says something controversial in order to get a rise out of other users. According to Time Magazine, it was originally a coined term used from a “fishing method online thieves use to find victims.” Psychologist call this the “online Disinhibition Effect”, factors like anonymity, invisibility, and a lack of authority in real time strips away the mores society has built.
Not only are trolls relishing from online freedom on social media, they are also publishing personal data, such as Social Security numbers and bank accounts. Trolls are turning social media into a giant locker room of racial discrimination and misogyny. According to Time Magazine, in a 2014 study published in the psychology journal Personality and Individual Differences found that ” approximately 5% of internet users who self-identified as trolls scored extremely high in the dark thread of personality traits: narcissism, psychopathy, Machiavellianism and, especially, sadism.” As more trolling continues we are finding many social media platforms becoming more hesitant to step on someone’s First Amendment rights.
LIS 4022 Spring 2020 