Federation University psychology experts have called for targeted education campaigns to safeguard internet users against trolling.
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It comes after the university led an Australian-first study which discovered trolling behaviour stemmed from a feeling of fulfilment by creating social mayhem and disruption, known as negative social potency.
Federation University lead researcher and psychology lecturer (Gippsland) Dr Evita Marsh said men were more likely than women to engage in trolling.
She said higher levels of psychopathy and particularly sadism tend to predict trolling behaviour.
“More often they are trolling to illicit a reaction,” Dr Marsh said.
“Knowing that others are annoyed by their behaviour fuels their desire to do it more.”
With more than 3.17 billion people connected to the internet around the world, Dr March said the anonymity of the online environment and fast communication made the internet fertile ground for trolling.
“Facebook, one of the most popular social media sites, has become the biggest online playground for engaging in antisocial behaviours, particularly trolling.
“It makes it more likely and it makes it more dangerous.”
Dr March urged people to do their best not to react to trolls.
“Don’t feed the trolls.
“If the purpose of their behaviour is to elicit an emotional reaction from you – try to deny them the satisfaction of an angry reaction and hopefully they will disappear.”
Dr March is using her research to inform larger studies to better understand victim outcomes and predict who trolls like to target and why.
She also hopes the study will start a push for education campaigns to help social media administrators put in better protection mechanisms for their users.
The death of popular TV presenter Charlotte Dawson, who committed suicide in 2014 after becoming a target of internet trolls, was the study’s impetus.
It has been published in academic journal Elsevier.