Trolls Aren’t Like The Rest of Us / Ex-Twitter

Without even realizing it, many internet users mistakenly assume that cyberattackers follow conventional rules of behavior. People try to reason with trolls or appeal to their better nature. These responses are similar to how you might approach a friend who’s inadvertently insulted you, or a family member who disagrees with you about something important. But trolls are not like your loved ones, and research shows that these strategies are ineffective because they misapprehend a troll’s true motives, which are usually to attract attention, exercise control, and manipulate others.

Many people who engage in online harassment are not what most of us would consider to be well-adjusted. In 2019, scholars writing in the journal Personality and Individual Differences surveyed 26 studies of internet “trolling,” cyberbullying, and related antisocial online behaviors. They found significant associations with psychopathy, Machiavellianism, sadism, and narcissism, in that order. In other words, just as you would conclude that a stranger attacking you in person is badly damaged, you can conclude the same about a stranger attacking you on social media.

Source: How to Deal With Trolls by Arthur C. Brooks, The Atlantic

I usually enjoy Brooks’ column. Sure, there are some offnotes when it’s too clear that author’s job is to think about happiness, and he doesn’t quite realize how goofy his suggestions are for anyone in the working classes.  But usually, each article presents a way to think about what we choose in our lives, and often about the gap between what seems like happiness and what’s actual contentment.

This article, all about trolls and why there’s no way to resolve with bad-faith hostility, is a particularly good one. I’ve thought about it a lot of times since I first read it. As Twitter becomes a trash fire, with not just endless sockpuppet attacks but actual cash prizes for outrage engagement on the worst, most hostile takes possible, I’m thinking about it again.