Why do trolls troll?

[raccoon]

Is it because they don't have anything to do?

They're mad at somebody in their RL and can't direct the anger there?

They're mad at fate, life, the universe, etc., because the circumstances of their life isn't what they'd like it to be?

[babylonsister]

1. Because things aren't going the way Rush tells them they ought to be

going? :shrug:

[unpossibles]

2. I think they get some kind of glee being assholes

sorry, but that's how I see it, and I think it applies to more than just the internets.

The really funny/sad part is so many of them are too stupid to know when they've been bettered in an argument. They bring a broken rubber chicken to a knife fight, so to speak, and don't even realize it. Then again, disconnect from reality seems to be their "strength" so I guess it only makes sense.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

7. I think you've nailed it

They're nasty people irl and even worse on the internet. I knew a guy once who was a mean jerk who had grown up being an outcast. His wife and I are friends. She often complained about his addiction to trolling message boards, he even got fired for doing so at work one too many times.

[waiting for hope]

3. I've been trying to figure that

one out for a while - why go to a place where you are not welcomed? I scan the Freeps every so often in order to get inside their head on a particular issue but would never, never want to post there....icky.

[Jim Warren]

4. Down time between

masturbation events.

[bryant69]

5. Troll Smash!

Probably there's more than one reason.

Troll, n; Someone who posts an annoying question/statement you don't have an immediate answer to.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[hfojvt]

21. that definition does not quite work

often there is an immediate answer - "fu$% off Nazi/Commie". Unless the word 'answer' implies 'substantive response' rather than simply 'response'.

I can think of a couple sorta basic reasons.

1. To spy on the opposition, get ahead of their spin
2. To cause dissention in the opposition, make them work against each other instead of against your side. Cause doubt, discouragement, and distrust among 'the other team'.
3. A fascination with the other side and their 'delusions'. A desire to prove to them/others that the other side is deluded/dishonest. To an extent we do the same thing when we talk about them, their sites, their threads/opinions. We argue with them, or just mock them, except they do not have a chance to respond.

[bryant69]

25. I think you also need to make a distinction between actually

being a troll and being labeled a troll. I've been labeled a troll before, many times, but none of those definitions apply to me really.

Bryant

[hfojvt]

31. I was only thinking of actual trolls

Where does that put a Carlos or Mr. B or OLL though? Is it possible to be a troll without actually believing yourself to be one? What if Lieberman or Vilsack (or their supporters) were posting on DU? Trolls? Or just really, really annoying centrist/DLCers?

[Canuckistanian]

6. It gives them a sense of power

That they otherwise wouldn't get because they're sitting in mom's basement.

[CrazyOrangeCat]

9. Right.

It's gotta be tough being the only dude in your H.S. class that flunked driver's-ed, gym class, and health . . .

[The Wizard]

8. The same ilk

that sends out computer viruses.

[11 Bravo]

10. You can only watch kiddie porn for so long before needing a break.

[PhilipShore]

Agent provocateur?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/16/AR2005071601364.html">Link

By Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, July 17, 2005; Page A01

Karl Rove had a secret.

In Plame Leaks, Long Shadows

Rove Knew of CIA Agent, Husband's Role in Criticizing Bush

[annabanana]

11. some are paid. . .

disruption here is an oily worm right in the base...

[Richard Steele]

12. Because they feel weak and powerless.

And they are too afraid to actually do anything in
real life to change that. Trolling lets them live
in a manichean fantasy-world where they are a secret
agent for the forces of "good". "Good" being defined
as whatever is quickest and easiest, it usually ends
up being whatever position feeds the most existing
prejudices and requires the least thought.

[tinfoilinfor2005]

13. Beowulf and Trolls...

The 3182 lines of the Beowulf poem survives in a single manuscript copy that was made about 1000 AD. Rediscovered in the early 18th century, modern scholars say that it is a copy of a mid-8th century Anglo-Saxon original that is now lost. A well known character in this poem is Grendel, described as a young "troll" in most translations. Grendel lives in the marshes, and for 12 years goes around terrorizing people by grabbing them and eating them in the middle of the night. After 12 years of killing people, Beowulf conceives of an unusual plan to do Grendel in. After he finally meets up with this teenage monster, he does a quick maneuver by suddenly moving in close to his chest and grabbing one of his arms, which is described as small and weak. He quickly puts the creature in an arm lock and with his brute strength, rips open his arm at the shoulder. The creature then goes away and bleeds to death.

----------------------------------------

So, according to Beowulf, next time you encounter a troll, grab one of it's small weak arms, rip it off, and the troll will go off and die. And, hey, we've all done that here, at one time or another. :)

[waiting for hope]

15. What a lovely mental picture....

Each was hateful to the other
alive. The horrible monster endured
a wound: the bone-locks
of his shoulder gave way,
and his sinews sprang out.
The glory of battle went to
Beowulf, and Grendel,
mortally wounded,
sought his sad home
under the fen slope.
He knew surely that
his life had reached its end,
the number of his days gone.



I prefer this....silly, innocuous and overall, pesky.

[tinfoilinfor2005]

20. I agree.

But didn't we add some class to the discussion?
;-)

[rman]

14. Trolling disrupts rational debate,

which is beneficial to those who don't want rational debate on certain topics.
Possibly that is a reason why certain trolls troll.

[Igel]

16. There are people that could properly be called

trolls in residence at DU.

I don't mean conservatives that come to DU to disrupt or be annoying. I mean bona fide DUers that go to FR and other conservative sites and act as trolls. Some have even boasted that they get banned within their first or second post.

Perhaps they're DUers that are taking breaks from masturbation, who flunked HS, need to relax between bouts of kiddie porn, or the rest of the things said by people who erroneously assume only freepers can be trolls, but I prefer not to call fellow DUers such things ... at least on-line. (The things I say to the screen, well, that's between me and the screen, although I think my scanner eavesdrops sometimes.)

My hunches: (1) Some feel so superior and so enlightened that they feel the need to either demonstrate their superiority or share their enlightenment. (2) As some little kids like terrifying small animals (my toddler delights in terrorizing flocks of pigeons), so trolls delight in the turmoil they create; think of it as scoring one for the team, making those "stupid freepers" (or "stupid DUmmies") get all bent out of shape and waste time and energy.

[uppityperson]

28. Thank you.

I get tired of the quick 1 lineres, thank you for your thoughtful response.

[Solly Mack]

17. they troll the same reason headlines at the check-out read

"Man gives birth to alien baby"
"Laura Bush files for divorce"



it gets people's attention

[npincus]

18. well, I admit registered 2x at the Freak Show

for a little mischief. It was fun dropping the 'bomb'...

[mmonk]

19. What brought out this latest troll topic thread?

[raccoon]

22. Some comments made on another thread about lots of them being around recently. nt

[mmonk]

23. Ah

a continuum.

[Hubert Flottz]

24. Probably Because!

[Dora]

26. Because they're blind and cannot see. n/t

[Javaman]

27. The secretly want to be one of us. nt

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

29. Sexual insecurity.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

30. What fraction of DUers have trolled on FR or similar conservative sites?

NT