‘Don’t feed the trolls’ really is good advice – here’s the evidence

Almost half the population of the planet now has access to the internet, with about one in three of those people regularly active on social media. But this increased opportunity to socialise and communicate in a virtual environment has offered new avenues for antisocial behaviour. The problem of cyberbullying has received considerable research attention. However, other online antisocial behaviours with similarly harmful outcomes have received far less consideration – one example being anonymous online trolling. Trolling behaviours typically include deliberately posting inflammatory comments and argumentative messages in an attempt to provoke, disrupt and upset others. “Trolls” may pretend to be part of the group, but their real intent is to create conflict for their own amusement. Shockingly, more than a quarter of Americans have admitted to engaging in trolling behaviour at some point. Read the full articl