“In Internet slang, a troll (/ˈtroʊl/, /ˈtrɒl/) is a person who sows discord on the Internet by starting arguments or upsetting people,[1] by posting inflammatory,[2] extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community (such as a forum, chat room, or blog) with the deliberate intent of provoking readers into an emotional response[3] or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion.

This is the definition provided by Wikipedia explaining exactly what a troll is. This phenomenon has continued to spread in all areas of online interaction whether it is on Internet forums or online gaming. Pnina Shachaf and Noriko Hara conducted research on how these trolls effect Internet communities specifically Wikipedia. In their article “Beyond Vandalism: Wikipedia Trolls” their focus is on the study of trolls and hackers. This study in particular aims to identify the range of troll behaviors and motivations and to examine the similarities and differences between Wikipedia trolls and hackers.

Definitions

The term “Troll” and “Hacker” tend to be used synonymously however the tend to differ in motive and behavior. Troll behaviors tend to fall under three definitional criteria:

1) outward manifestations of sincerity, 2) flame bait, and 3) attempts to provoke futile arguments.

Overall, their efforts are to spark debates and conversations as well as seeking attention.

Hackers on the other hand tend to fall into a different group of categories. For example Shachaf and Hara quote Falk who defines three categories as follows:

1)organized crime for financial gain, 2) script kiddie for self-gratification, and 3) hacktivism for political messages and social justice.

Hackers and trolls have some overlapping objectives but they typically have fall into seperate categories given their motives. Hackers usually are looking for a self-interested gain where as trolls are looking to spark chaos.

Cases

Shachaf and Hara in their study look at four particular cases where trolls had been seeked out by sysops (wikipedia adminstrators) and dealt with. The image below shows what exactly each trolls motives were and what they did.

These trolls are not eassily found “they hide their identity, operate anony- mously, use pseudonyms or sock puppets, and do not provide contact information on their Wikipedia user pages”. Overall they are a hassel to online communities and tend to carry a negative impact.

Trolls and Hackers both have a negative impact on online communities and can lead to a lag in production. They are the pests of the cyber world and are ultimately trying to undermine succesful networks. Marshall Poe discusses how Wikipedia became succesful through its use of the bizaar model structure in his work “The Hive”. Poe shows how this model opened up the site to an online community where they all could collaborate and work together to contribute to the succes of online information sharing.

In “The Hive” the Cunctator is an example of a troll that Wikipedia had to deal with. It just goes to show that trolls are everywhere and looking for attention. However, Wikipedia is a strong network and through collaboration they have triumphed over these trolls and their efforts. Yet some may say that it is an ongoing battle and that the efforts of trolls will never stop.

This study provides some research on the behavior and motives surrounding trolls and hackers but more needs to be done. Trolls are seen as the new era of online pests and they need to be dealt with.