Quote from: Cal427eb on Feb 15, 2014, 07:27:30 PM
http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/climate_desk/2014/02/internet_troll_personality_study_machiavellianism_narcissism_psychopathy.html
Let us take a moment to listen to a lecture on trollogy from yours, truly:
What is a troll? Can anyone take a guess at this? Is it a mythical creature? Is it a basement dwelling 40 year old? Is it a well fed acne riddled preteen living comfortably on the heated second floor of its parents house, who's only form of entertainment is annoying other people?
Well, I'm here to tell you that it doesn't have to be.
Your garden variety troll these days has no frontal lobe activity, and consequently, is not very sophisticated in their attacks. For whatever reason (mommy didn't spank them enough, too much sugar, etc) they are impulsive, careless, and lack a certain...presence. The troll you should be worried about will possess an almost chameleon like quality that allows them to feed off and ravage an astronomical number of victims. The very best can accomplish this without ever outing themselves. They breeze right around moderators, sometimes provoking other members into committing offenses that result in their own banning.
Indeed, trolling can be an art, a cross between the ultimate saboteur and someone who hides in plain sight. To see what their victim is thinking, a clever troll will step inside their target, will almost wear them, will attempt to cover whatever doesn't belong (figuratively, of course). They may even pretend to be their victim, or sometimes, just like their victim. This can go on for weeks, months, or years, and is the primary method they gather intel. Sometimes they join an entire community and develop a rapport with them, slowly picking off other members and draining the intelligence of those who will listen to them. This is how many noteworthy trolls have built themselves up.
Thankfully, your typical misguided troll will grow very little over the course of their careers, never daring to challenge themselves or go beyond petty and transparent insults. They never learn to become something greater. Something far more sinister. But this is nature's design.
Let us move on to what I'm here to offer you:
I have studied the operations of the best. Their plan. Their execution. I have lived alongside them, danced with them, studied their ways, their mannerisms. I have eaten as the troll, have moved as the troll, have lived as the troll. And if you desire, I can teach you how to spot the troll, how to crush the troll, or if you dare, how to
become the troll.
I have successfully taught others how to detect troll activity in Russian servers by the way hair on an ant's ass moves in the wind. I have turned momma's boys into deities, revered and worshiped across the world. Even aliens have sought out my talent.
The collective knowledge and wisdom of the troll can be yours, now. All you have to do is ask. Ask, and you shall receive.
