On 2014-02-17 19:24:38 +0000, David Rance said:

On Mon, 17 Feb 2014 18:48:36 sacha wrote:

On 2014-02-17 17:58:56 +0000, David Rance said:

On Mon, 17 Feb 2014 08:24:15 Peter James wrote:

An interesting web site in view of recent post here.
I'm not trying to inflame anyone, just posting this for interest.
http://tinyurl.com/kpnbo7u
Peter

And I think this is the nub of it:
'Overall, the authors found that the relationship between sadism and
trolling was the strongest, and that indeed, sadists appear to troll
because they find it pleasurable. “Both trolls and sadists feel
sadistic glee at the distress of others,” they wrote. “Sadists just
want to have fun ... and the Internet is their playground!”'
Isn't this what we've always known?
David

Did you miss the bit about narcissism? ;-)

No, but I don't think it's relevant. Our trolls may well be
narcissistic but it's the sadistic trait that is important to them here.

David

Oh, I think narcissism rears its head often. There are frequent boasts
by trolls here but over nothing of any note. Sadism? Very amateurish,
given what others see or suffer, poor Professor Beard, for example. I
say 'poor' but actually, she's obviously quite unmoved by it and deals
with it perfectly. If there's a category for juvenile, kindergarten
level behaviour, I think that's been observed here rather a lot. It
seems akin to the child that deliberate pees in its pants to get
'mummy' to pay attention.
--

Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
www.helpforheroes.org.uk