Trickster Trolls Really Exist
And they will ruin your predictive analytics
In my work as a futurist, and peak performance mentor, I often speak of what I call Troll Gangsters (a TG) — A person who makes, or posts or makes digressive, extraneous, inflammatory, insincere, or off-topic messages online (such as in a newsgroup, social media, a chat room, a forum, an online video game) or in real life. The TG does all this with the intent of manipulating others’ perception, provoking others into displaying emotional responses, or thus acting as a provocateur, disruptive force or bully. The behavior is typically to achieve a specific result, for the TG’s sadistic amusement, and to wreck, havock. Often the TG behaves this way by disrupting what they perceive to be another’s online activities, or predictive patterns. They may also purposefully causing harm or confusion to other people.
Usually a TG will avoid the press and when cornered by the media will offer paradox, contradiction, and ambiguity with a straight face. They will never answer questions about money, income, or the names of students or clients. Occasionally they may say that “no matter how wealthy and powerful my clients are they do not wish to have their private affairs treated as gossip.”
The TG usually works alone but will imply otherwise, speaking of their “team”. They may speak of…
