Trolling, the Ugly Face of the Social Network

Abstract

Much of modern social interaction takes place using digital communications, using the Smartphone and tablet devices which have seemingly become ubiquitous to our modern generation. As will all interactions between individuals, not all will be pleasant or tasteful; some may be rude and offensive, possibly even harmful to the person on the receiving end. The fact that this takes place is not unusual, it happens often enough in the ‘offline’ world, but it is scale and reach of such activities which should give us pause for thought. The question we must now ask is ‘what are the unique circumstances which make online social media particularly ripe for incivility?’ and ‘how should we categorise it?’ Also discussed here will be motivations and the theories surrounding the aetiology of this behaviour. This chapter will discuss the motivations of trolling in relation to Nietzsche’s concepts of ‘resentiment’, ‘slave morality’ and ‘nihilism’ and draw upon the concept of ‘causal probability’ in order to shed new light upon this activity.