I don't get why people conflate Internet trolling with sadism and psychopathy.

[kasuke06]

Honestly? It's just them trying to call the mean person names they think will hurt. Like a child on a playground.

[Dastreus]

I don't have a link atm, but there was a psychological link found between consistent trollers and psychopaths. Note the "consistent" clause.

[turboether]

Not engaging in such behaviour was once seen as a sign of maturity.

Certainly. The pertinent point is that you can't control how people in an open environment act, but you can control how you react to it.

[TEHPALLYTANK]

And that's a significant difference. People kill themselves due to depression. Depression can destroy you and your life. Annoyance, however, can not. If someone were to kill the self over being annoyed on the Internet then they probably already had several severe underlying issues making them a ticking time bomb anyway.

See? You recognize that people have problems, and you just don't care enough to consider them. There isn't any difference in the core concept between what you're doing and what the other people are doing when it comes to trolling, you just are trying to justify your own actions.

[Techno-Druid]

I think we have different definitions of sadism. Sadists are the type of people who torture small animals for fun. They're the types who go out of their way to ruin lives for kicks with no remorse. I don't consider people who do that shit to be in the same realms of people who instigate arguments for fun and if you do then you're incredibly narrow minded.

Not neccessarily, there are different forms and levels of sadism.

For example, people who are sexual sadists generally find causing their partner some amount of pain a turn on, but I wouldn't call them remorseless.

[Cosmic Janitor]

I think trolls are just pathetic. They have achieved nothing in live and content with being retards on the internet.

[taliey]

I think you are giving trolls more credit than they deserve.

[Mattrik]

Certainly. The pertinent point is that you can't control how people in an open environment act, but you can control how you react to it.

True but if you challenge the troll's behaviour, instead of fixing their behaviour, they will see you've signalled you're prepared to engage with them and they will double down their efforts.

The only winning move is not to play.

[Soeroah]

So you consider "misery" and "being slightly irritated" to be synonyms?

The problem is it's not your place to decide what constitutes a minor inconvenience or slight irritation to other people. What might seem that way to you can literally be a psychological stressor to them.

Whatever your intentions, if you're not VERY careful who you troll and why, your posts can have real impact on a person. Saying something like "your family hate you" can seem like a joke to some, an irritation to others or a reinforcement of actual depression in some which could lead to self harm.

And many trolls, sadly, target the people who have real problems with X because it's easy to get a bite.

[Vyuvarax]

I'm not sure trolling is an indicator for psychosis, or at least psychosis as people are trying to define it here.

The tendency to 'troll' exhibits a desire to control or dominate the behavior of another through evoking as severe a reaction possible with material as offensive as possible. It seems more to be an attempt at garnering attention, which most trolls probably feel they need in order to have value. You can see why a person who trolls others would feel this need if you saw how often their lives are thoroughly pathetic and not at the level they believe they deserve.

I think trolling is about the discord people feel when their lives don't match their sense of self worth. Truthfully, anyone who trolls has a life with no value, and they know it and are angered by it. Angering others, calling them cucks or whatever their vulgar name calling is at present, is the only way they can feel the attention they need to feel as important as they need. Their life and personal achievements, after all, have nothing of value worth giving attention to.

[TEHPALLYTANK]

What about the 10000's of Comedians that's entire bit is they troll random public people by pretending to be something they're not? You know, the "Gotcha" Comedians? The ones that don't say they are a Comedian until they get a reaction first? I.e Eric Andre

*snip*

Those people are trolls too, not comedians.

[Super Kami Dende]

Those people are trolls too, not comedians.

Eric Andre is a Comedian. Just admit you were utterly wrong.

[Coffeexbean]

we all have fun "trolling" here and there but man this post was sad to read lmaooooooooo get some fresh air and reevaluate yourself

[Gatsbybutters]

It's not funny anymore though. 9 out of 10 posts on the internet are trolls and shit posts now. It's. Not. Funny. Anymore.

You beat the dead horse, with millions of people exactly like you doing the exact same thing day in and day out. Grats you won! Time to find a new game.

Anti humor is fucking cancer. Stop it. You are the joke in your joke.

[Zogarth]

There is different kinds of trolling. Their is the randomly rickrolling and the like, and then there is actual sadistic crap, like really trying to rile people up and trying to cause anger and antagonize people just for the fun of it. It reminds me of the whole "it is just a prank bro" mentality. There is tasteful and distasteful ways to troll people. If everyone walks away laughing, all is good, but if it all ends up in your personal satisfaction and the other party negatively effected, you should seriously consider what you are doing with your life, and if your current state of mind is healthy.

[Deleted]

Pretty sure people used to make the same distinctions for emotional abuse, saying "oh, because it doesnt leave any marks. Its not really hurting them"

Also to go back a few pages, OP you realise that sadism is not a binary thing, there are levels between emotionally taunting for pleasure and setting cats on fire. But you seem to think that "Oh sadist=cat murderer." and are refusing to agree with any counter points to this.

Also, you are an asshole. Im genuinely surprised these forums dont have a policy in place for intentional trolling.

[Mirishka]

I find trolling people on the Internet hilarious. It's fun as hell to rile people up instigate arguments. Making people get all worked up and annoyed is just so funny to me and I honestly couldn't tell you why that is.

That said, it bothers me when people call all trolls sadistic psychopaths. I'd never do anything to hurt anyone. I'd never ruin someone's life for the hell of it. I just think it's funny to annoy and mildly inconvenience people. I don't think it's fun to cause actual pain(emotional or physical) to anyone. I get that not everyone can understand the joys of annoying people, but to compare people like me to the types that actually hurt people is just foolish.

The fact that you enjoy it so much without even understanding why says a lot about you.

- - - Updated - - -

When I troll someone on a forum or a video game and they get upset, I feel I have done them a service. If they get mad at text on a computer screen or pixels in a video game, they are obviously not fit for the challenges of life and I am helping to condition them and get them mentally fit. Their payment, for my services, is their reactions that make me laugh.

So, basically the 'bullying makes you tough' mentality, except you're a coward taking advantage of being anonymous. Gotcha.

[Mirishka]

It's like Diet Bullying. It's healthier in most cases. Real bullying you can't get away from generally. You have to confront it or it won't stop. A lot of people think that's healthy. Nowadays kids are so thin skinned and domesticated that they kill themselves over a negative instagram or snapchat. Trolling on the internet is a nice easy kind of bullying where the recipient can easily disengage with the click of a button.

Translation: I'm a bitch that lacks the balls to fuck with people in person so I do it online, here's my pathetic attempt at justifying it.

One day you might grow up (doubt it) and have a kid of your own... see how you feel about cyberbullying when its your daughter being told to kill herself by scores of pathetic assholes like yourself, 24/7, in school and at home. There's no disengaging, there's no 'it goes away when you push a button.' And you're an uninformed idiot of the highest order if you believe that.

Maybe once its your kid having her life torn apart day in and day out, and you get to see the actual effect that has on people... maybe you'll start talking out of the correct part of your body. Personally, I'm not holding my breath, but who knows?

Infracted - Minor flaming

[Elim Garak]

I like to torture people verbally on the Internet, but I don't like to torture people in real life. maybe, just maybe, the same word means different things in different context.

[Deleted]

Again, I just don't see getting worked up and annoyed as being harmed. And I will never understand people who do see it that way.

That inability is the psychopath speaking, your enjoyment of harassing people is the sadist speaking.
The anonymity of the internet has allowed many sadistic psychopath to live their sadistic and psychopathic fetishes freely without the fear of consequences. Just ask yourself this, would you act the same way on the streets, annoying and harassing people when standing infront of let's say... a group of hooligans?