Troll

Troll link (enemy image, Internet culture)
Trolls are users of the internet who express opposition, especially those who seek to disrupt discussions.

A troll is someone who contributes to discussion on the internet in a way that is perceived as provocative, disruptive or otherwise unhelpful. The activity is termed (verb trolling).

Etymology

The word "troll", originally a supernatural being in Scandinavian mythology, was applied to disruptive influence on the internet some years before the advent of the World Wide Web. "Do not feed the trolls" is an admonition to simply ignore rather than engage with trolls.

Definitions

"Troll" is increasingly used as an ad hominem attack with little substantive meaning.

Integrity Initiative

Full article: Integrity Initiative

The Integrity Initiative makes much of "Russian Propaganda" as promoted by trolls. The report of "Operation Iris", a review of social media about the Skripal Affair by Harod Associates for the Integrity Initiative defined a troll as {{#subobject: |Has superobject=Troll |Has objectClass=Quotation |Has author=Integrity Initiative|+sep=, |Has text=“Someone who posts inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community, with the primary intent of provoking readers into an emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion. They hide behind their computer screens, and actively go out of their way to cause trouble on the internet. The internet troll is angry and disruptive in every possible way.” |Is about=Troll,Institute for Statecraft and Governance|+sep=, |Has wikipediaPage= |Has location=|+sep=, |Has publicationDate=18 April 2018 |Sourced from=Integrity Initiative/Leak/4 |Has sourceDetails=110418 - Op Iris - Report..pdf |Has sourceTitle= |Has sourceName=Integrity Initiative/Leak/4 |Has sourceURL= }}“Someone who posts inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community, with the primary intent of provoking readers into an emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion. They hide behind their computer screens, and actively go out of their way to cause trouble on the internet. The internet troll is angry and disruptive in every possible way.”

Facebook

File:Facebook trolls.png

"Destructive behaviors" of trolls, as defined by a Facebook document

Leaked documents from Facebook report trolls are involved in "destructive behaviors" including "Red-pilling normies to convert them to their worldview."

4chan is involved in raids.

Usage

WhoWhatWhy reported in 2017 that "Park benefited from the Korean National Intelligence Service's unlawful rigging of the election in her favor. It hired trolls to set up numerous fake Twitter accounts to create the illusion of widespread public support for Park."

As an enemy image

Trolls were used as enemy images by the Integrity Initiative, which never described its own network of 'clusters' as cells of trolls, although it used them as a tool of covert influence. The Operation Iris report made dozens of references to pro-Kremlin trolls, but not one to a pro-UK troll. It stated that {{#subobject: |Has superobject=Troll |Has objectClass=Quotation |Has author=Integrity Initiative|+sep=, |Has text=“The impact of troll accounts cannot be underestimated as they add an additional dimension to an organised disinformation campaign that is difficult to counter. It was noticeable during the research that, whilst UK media could hold its own against its Russian counterparts, there was no UK equivalent to the Russian trolls, who would able to counter their relentless bombardment of anti-establishment rhetoric.” |Is about=Troll,Institute for Statecraft and Governance|+sep=, |Has wikipediaPage= |Has location=|+sep=, |Has publicationDate=18 April 2018 |Sourced from=Integrity Initiative/Leak/4 |Has sourceDetails=110418 - Op Iris - Report..pdf |Has sourceTitle= |Has sourceName=Integrity Initiative/Leak/4 |Has sourceURL= }}“The impact of troll accounts cannot be underestimated as they add an additional dimension to an organised disinformation campaign that is difficult to counter. It was noticeable during the research that, whilst UK media could hold its own against its Russian counterparts, there was no UK equivalent to the Russian trolls, who would able to counter their relentless bombardment of anti-establishment rhetoric.”

File:Skripal Trolls.png

An appendix of The Operation Iris document showing dissenting voices from the official narrative of the Skripal case - referred to as "Troll accounts"

"Ethical trolling"

Full article: Ethical trolling

"Ethical trolling" is a principled behaviour which others refer to as trolling.

YouTube

Brittany Venti is a YouTuber known for trolling as her alter ego, for entertainment purposes.

#TrollingTheGuardian

File:Shaniquaotoole guardian parody.jpg

The image which kicked off #TrollingTheGuardian

After The Guardian used the DMCA to request takedown of a parody, the Streisand Effect lead to many similar pieces, unified by the hashtag TrollingTheGuardian.

References