FreddieQuell
Member
Because you're still interacting with real people on the internet? That would be like saying some sadistic person in real life isn't sadistic because they treat their family nicely.
Study Determines Trolls Are Narcissistic, Machiavellian, Psychopathic, and/or Sadists
- Thread starter wildfire
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Because you're still interacting with real people on the internet? That would be like saying some sadistic person in real life isn't sadistic because they treat their family nicely.
AlimNassor
Banned
Some trolls can be. I knew a troll who eStalked his victims and anytime you posted he would bring up something you did to discredit you. He was a real fucking jackass, we all suspected who he really was and outed him. Sadly, he wasn't a fat neckbeard, he was rich and successful and had a disturbing lack of empathy towards people.
HalfBakedProphet
Member
I'm saying there isn't as big of a separation between the two "selves" as those people claim. "I'm an asshole on the internet but I'm a great person in real life!". In terms of people with multiple personalities and their use of the internet, that a something I'm far from qualified to try and discuss.
CornBurrito
Member
I'm not talking of multiple personalities either. Behavior is contextual. That's the biggest take away from basic psychology. Why is one context (online) of behavior considered by you to be "their true self" but not the other? I think your claim isn't accurate, or at least you've provided no real backing.
HalfBakedProphet
Member
If I understand what you're saying, I'm not sure I ever made that claim to begin with.
freenudemacusers
Member
while trolls obviously have issues, are there any studies about internet forum moderators?
CornBurrito
Member
Someone who trolls online, but is a genuinely nice person when interacting face-to-face with people in meatspace is not "really an asshole underneath" in my opinion. Instead they are an asshole online, and a nice person when not online.
I can be very open and energetic with friends, but extremely timid and shy with strangers. Please tell me which one is my "true self." Am I truly open and energetic, or truly shy and timid? Or maybe, just maybe my behavior is context dependent.
But I kind of get a kick out of it when people don't understand and get mad, even though that wasn't my original intent. I once made a sarcastic comment in a thread about an iOS game that cloned Mario and had like 50 people reply to tell me I was an idiot. Probably the highlight of my life.
This is silly.
You are someone who is likely to become shy when anxious. The more you get to know people, the less anxious they will make you, and so the more you are likely to open up around them. But your "true self" is still someone who behaves shyly when anxious, even when you are interacting energetically with people who no longer make you anxious.
Similarly someone who is an asshole when there are fewer consequences is still likely to be an asshole, even if they choose to obey the mores of social etiquette when face-to-face for the sake of self-preservation.
hipbabboom
Huh? What did I say? Did I screw up again? :(
Trolls are filth! As a society we think bannings and shaming are the solutions but the problem keeps getting worse. A zero tolerance against trolling regardless of the offence punishable by death to be carried out by hand picked deputies of low enforcement at the community level is probably the most sensible options. Trolls bring frustration, stress and violence. How many billions of collective life times are lost each year because of their antics. These things aren't like cancers in the human bodies that are hard to treat. These miasma are detectable and isolatable impurities in society we can isolate and purge with extreme prejudice. We may even have the technology, given the recent advances in human genome mapping, to detect and purge these impurities at birth and use that data to go up the bloodline and free society. Does this seem a little extreme? Not really, Healthcare companies are even translating simple acts to reduce stress to hundreds of billions per year in savings. These small savings can be applied to meaningful research such as curing cancer and perpetual energy so imagine how much more advancement in human civilization we channel resources into if we deal with big stress causers like trolls. I'm no parent but I'd be quick to terminate life if a troll gene was detected. That's perhaps the best part of this, if we make it a legislation, we wouldn't have to deal with the details. It gets even better, the money we save on trolls can not only fund the extermination programs indefinitely but we may also be able to receive tax credits.
victreeb3l
Member
I'm not surprised.
FreddieQuell
Member
Put it better than I would have.
HalfBakedProphet
Member
what I'm saying is the "online asshole persona" isnt completely disconnected from the person behind the computer. To pretend they are eternally seperate is an excuse to avoid repercussions for acting like a d-bag. "Its only the internet...who cares?" I'm not claiming someone who is an asshole online acts like an asshole in real life. I'm claiming someone who acts like an asshole on the internet probably has suppressed or antisocial feelings they don't display in real life, which is what I meant by "underneath".
NEOPARADIGM
Banned
Meh. It's contextual. I troll boards/threads that are full of trollish bs, but remain cordial on cordial boards/threads. I think I'm pretty normal in this.
freenudemacusers
Member
so on top of all your other personality disorders you have dissociative identity disorder, too.
theprodigy
Member
I'm not objecting to the idea of people with these conditions be treated. I'm questioning that half of these things were obvious (narcissism and to an extent psychopathy and Machiavellian behavior.)
Essentially this is my train of thought on the matter.
To be more elaborate there are variations of psychopathy one type are the fearless versions that are typified in media as the dangerous and most common one. The other version is far more reactionary and is more like a hornets nest you should leave alone once you identify it. They require different approaches when interacting with them and it would be immoral to treat them the same.
No, they're assholes, albeit to a lesser degree than a full blown asshole - assholes in their inability to appreciate the humanity behind interactions that are veiled by the nature of the internet.
To be fair, that would apply to most people in regards to most things that increase the cognitive distance between the other party and themselves - such is frail and faulty nature of the human mind.
As for you, sound sound like a classical introvert. Take time to open up, and you probably only act lively in a smaller more intimate group.
Lord Ghirahim
Member
First thing I thought too. The study itself sounds like a troll.
Persona is often a reflection of personality.
Nah, they are an arsehole who hides it sometimes. As for your question, it is both. It is just about the definition of shyness.
dapperbandit
Banned
Some men just want to watch the world burn.
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