Why Do I ‘Troll’ People on the Internet and How Can I Stop?
Dear Trolling for Help,
Thank you for reaching out with this powerful question. There are a number of reasons you may be engaging in this behavior, and I hope this response helps you to uncover some of what motivates it so that you can change it.
When behind the computer screen, it’s very easy for people to engage in behaviors they would never do in real life. The anonymity of the Internet offers a shield—some people feel as if they can be aggressive, and in some cases abusive, toward others because they don’t feel as though they are hurting a real person. One strange thing about the Internet is that while we are incredibly connected digitally, we are very disconnected interpersonally. The fact you can’t see the people you interact with online makes it easier to “other” them. When we “other” people, we don’t necessarily see them as real people with real feelings, and that makes it easier to disconnect from the reality that our words can cause actual harm.
There is also a sense of the Internet being consequence free; you are largely anonymous, and unless someone is really motivated to find you, you’re likely to get away with this type of behavior. It is easy to see how slippery the slope can be when these two factors are combined. When they feel anonymous, people often do things they would not do in their daily lives. Those things we do when we feel anonymous are often impulses we have in daily life that are socially unacceptable or that we have been told are not allowed. When you are making these comments and “trolling” people, you likely have at least a couple of people who agree with you, which may make your behavior seem more acceptable. That could be another factor in why this is an issue for you.
The anonymity of the Internet offers a shield—some people feel as if they can be aggressive, and in some cases abusive, toward others because they don’t feel as though they are hurting a real person.
Perhaps the bigger issue here is why you feel the need to engage in these ways. Based on what you wrote, it seems as if you may get a thrill from feeling powerful and feeling as though you can whip up a frenzy just by what you say. That leads me to wonder if perhaps you are feeling less than powerful in your daily life and if this is a way for you to assert yourself. Given that you are also occasionally snappy with your parents, it may be that your life situation is one that causes you to seek power in whatever way you can find it and the Internet is an easy source.
I suggest a few things: First, seek out a qualified therapist in your area with whom you can address these feelings/impulses. Next, whenever you find yourself trolling, take the time to remind yourself that the person on the other end is a real person, with real feelings, real family, friends, and loved ones. There have been cases where people, whose emotional states we simply can’t know, have been driven to extreme despair, even suicide, due to cyber bullying. Given that you’ve reached out for help, which is courageous and admirable, I’m confident you don’t want to be one of the people who contribute to such tragic outcomes.
Please seek out the support of a therapist to find out what’s compelling you and to take steps to stop the behaviors that motivated you to write. It will likely be good for both you and the people on the other side of the screen.
Best wishes,
Lisa
Lisa Vallejos
- 8 comments
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Millicent
November 6th, 2015 at 10:34 AMYou have become the person that you probably never wanted to be and I would guess that this is large part because this is how others have treated you in the past.
Don’t you remember how bad that made you feel? Now why would you want another person to have to feel that same way? -
Lisa
November 7th, 2015 at 9:14 PMIs this person serious? How do you stop? Grow up thats how!
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kayden
November 9th, 2015 at 10:37 AMI sort of agree with you Lisa and then I also think how sad it is that someone is taking out their own anger and frustrations on people they don’t even know.
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manny
November 17th, 2015 at 10:53 AMThere is something that is missing in you that allows you to think that it is ok since it is done anonymously to treat other people this way.
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Jorge H
January 5th, 2018 at 11:19 AMLol, dude just trolled you guys. FFS, dude said he lives with his parents and is a “nice” guy in real life. The bait is so obvious
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I'maGay
February 8th, 2019 at 9:05 AMand it’s still hilarious that someone responded to this troll post via email
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Lakshmi
July 29th, 2018 at 11:02 AMI could not agree more, with the person who wrote this request. I feel exactly the same, in every aspect of my life. I feel powerless. I have a completely perfect idea where my life is headed, but there is no way I can alter it. My parents and the society has pressurized me indirectly into taking up a profession I have no idea about. And I am too shy to confront them. I don’t know what to do in life, which makes it even harder for me to protest against their solution. And in this mess, the only way I can vent out and overcome my powerless life, is by taking it out on various people on the internet. This is why I do this. As honest a reply as I can give. I don’t have another option, and I’m crumbling from within.
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Douglas
April 21st, 2021 at 8:49 PMThis is the reallest comment on here. Personally, I am a survivor of severe child abuse and was dealing with it through drugs (not dealing with it) due to my family’s denial being so hard to bear. The gaslighting is relating to the trolling impetus – the more people are repressed about important things in life (aggression they have received) the more they might feel the need to troll, as HONESTY is not acceptable in this sick, stupid society. Society like that requires scapegoats and innocent victims – who then learn that justice is not on offer, and innocence has nothing to do with it. Same rationale that even at extremes a paedophile learns to justify. Society needs to grow the hell up about where all this abuse comes from, including the extreme forms of it. All come from others, humans are born innocent (genetic / epigenetic factors have a heavy influence of course). I have found myself shamefully trolling after Facebook manipulated my mood negatively:
“https://theconversation.com/our-experiments-taught-us-why-people-troll-72798
The first factor that seems to influence trolling is a person’s mood. In our experiment, people put into negative moods were much more likely to start trolling. We also discovered that trolling ebbs and flows with the time of day and day of week, in sync with natural human mood patterns.”
Trolls should be seen not as isolated bad people, but as an expression of society’s hatred for itself. They are a symptom, not the problem, and will remain so regardless of lazy, selfish, ignorant people’s denial of how we are linked and how children are corrupted and abused on so many levels. Also, look at the state of how we treat males, specifically, as disposable. When you have nothing to lose, why would you care how society views you? Or at least anonymously, why would you respect society? I mean Facebook didn’t HAVE to intentionally abuse people via manipulating their moods, but the selfish academic researchers just HAD TO be corrupted by power and force that upon people regardless. In studying abuse, remember that power corrupts, but also severe lack of power corrupts – is the key to everything.
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