people on the internet who go out of their way to argue
What is it that goes through the minds of people that compels them to log on to the internet and just keep... on... arguing? Desperate to get the last word in, apparently incapable of reflecting on their own compulsion to try to lecture others
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(FYI - It was harder to return to the forum after being booted out in those days because it required getting a completely new account through CompuServe, which was pricey. You couldn't just "change your name" and then re-enter as a "new person." Plus, at least in that forum, we were required to use our REAL NAME! However, I saw a few people who paid for that new account, but we figured out they were the same person because you eventually recognized their written syntax!)
So - I saw some of this, and the old style Compuserve forums did not allow this kind of behavior to go on for very long. (You had warnings, then you were booted)
I define "Internet Troll" as one who picks fights similar to the one you describe. Engaging them in a never-ending back-and-forth dialogue is exactly what they want. It's the attention -- even negative attention -- that fuels them. If you starve them of this, they move on to someone else to get the oxygen they crave.
I don't totally understand the psychology of this, but I suspect it's related to their self-worth. One needs to win an argument to feel confident and put others down to build yourself up. Holding a belief, knowing that others disagree, is frightening, and underneath all that bravado, they question themselves, though it's often out of their consciousness. They must Be Right to feel ok. This Bravado is also something they probably can only do online but not In Person. (I have this image of them as puny in real life!)
It's all just a theory, but sadly, Internet Trolls still are alive and well.
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You're right, i should have known better! I often try to take someone's comment in good faith and at least respond once - even if my response is a sharp one - because i don't like to imagine people who are into niche hobbies like highbrow indie games are petty enough to engage in trolling other people who share their area of interest.
I think i used to reserve the term "internet troll" for those intrinsically malicious people, agents provacateurs deliberately looking to cause mayhem in specific online spaces. But now i wonder if some of the people who start (and endlessly continue) internet debates don't have any particular agenda of disruption, perhaps they're just people who see something online that triggers them and engaging in an unproductive back-and-forth somehow brings them a sense of accomplishment or satisfaction... Without them even being conscious of how unnecessary it is?
I remember seeing someone i knew and respected - a forum moderator - proudly share how entertaining it was for them to engage trolls back and forth. They saw the whole process as just a harmless game instead of a waste of everybody's time and and energy. I lost respect for that person that day, although i still wouldn't have called them a troll themselves. But perhaps that's exactly what they are, and it's exactly that mindset that leads trolling to continue, even amongst adults who you would think should have grown out of it.
That's what made me think about some of my LJ friends' stories about their family members who constantly bicker and complain, even when there's objectively nothing to be upset about, and if perhaps there's just a certain personality that thrives on pointless conflict.
Sigh. Not for me.
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The thing about these trolls, if you're involved in a forum, you get to know who they are because their reputation for cultivating drama precedes them!
A forum moderator that engages with other trolls for sport? Personally, I think he's a troll himself. It sure sounds like it!
I think there is a personality type that thrives on conflict. For some, conflict is what makes them feel alive.
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