mco-335 - Tumblr blog

[mco-335]

Trolling and Social Media

With social media platforms allowing users to make accounts, converse and engage with other users either as themselves or in incognito, the rise of trolling and harassment has increased. Trolling is an activity online in which you or someone else engages with others with the intent to cause havoc and harass. Trolling is not just limited to politics, it coincides with nearly every subject on social media. Sports, politics and entertainment news are the most prominent subjects for online trolling. 

Trolls will seek attention and reactions from others by commenting or sharing posts hoping to strike a nerve with their victim. Sports trolls, which the vast majority are from accounts with no pictures of the user and a profile picture of an athlete are some of the more common ones that I run into online. My estimations are that the majority of these trolls are teenagers, still in high school, trash talking other teams’ players and games. They use anonymous names and do not post personal information, which could and has led to doxxing. 

I chose to focus mainly on sports trolling due to the fact that a large portion of my career will be through social media, Twitter specifically.  

Understanding why and how people troll can help experts and those who actively use social media work around it and limit harassment. 

https://www.si.com/more-sports/2018/03/29/twitter-internet-trolls-sports-athletes

This article does a great job describing how athletes can be affected by these trolls and a better understanding of why these feel so comfortable over the internet. 

(Picture from https://depositphotos.com/stock-photos/trolling.html) This picture perfectly depicts what it can be like trolling and seeking reactions online through the protective blanket that is non-confrontational and anonymous. 

“The Internet is the realm of coward. These people who are all sound and no fury.” - Joel Stein