Trolls, who are they, why do they do it?

The motivations driving online trolling behaviour are multifaceted and often rooted in psychological factors.

Trolls are rarely uncovered; they hide their identity very carefully. A case during the Madeline McCann ‘incident’ was an exception. Martin Brunt, the respected crime reporter from Sky News decided to try and reveal who was behind some particularly vitriolic tweets about the McCann parents. This person who hid under the name of Sweepyface.

Trolls identity revealed

She was revealed to be a lady named Brenda Leyland from Leicestershire. Leyland saw her tweets, over 4,600 of them, as a public service – she clearly believed that an injustice was taking place. "I'm committed to (finding) the truth of Maddie's death," she said. How could it be possible for a lady living in a village with no knowledge or experience in police work to believe that she could uncover the truth from her lounge? This stretched credibility to its utmost limit. She was, in fact, a respected member of her community and she was so devastated for her identity to be revealed that she committed suicide. Martin Brunt was deeply impacted by her death, he only intended to reveal the person behind the vicious tweets, but this tells how horrified such a person is to be revealed.

The sad case of Jay Slater

A more recent case was that of Jay Slater, the young man who went missing on a Spanish island on the morning of June 17th. Jay’s parents reported receiving a Snapchat message, which warned: “Kiss goodbye to your boy, you’re never going to see him again, he owes me a lot of money.” Sick trolls hacked Jay’s Instagram and claimed the missing teen was dead. They continued on their relentless attack on the parents with ever-increasing bizarre theories. The ‘armchair detectives’ seem to feel they have the right to spread their wild claims throughout social media adding to the distress of the parents.

The trolls never give up

Since Jay's body was found by the police a few days ago, the trolls didn’t give up their campaign.

Sky News reported on the 16th of July, ‘The case has led to online speculation around his disappearance and only on Sunday, Mr. Slater's mum Debbie Duncan felt compelled to speak of "awful comments and theories filling social media". Within days of his disappearance, a number of Facebook groups dedicated to the case had been set up - with some going on to attract hundreds of thousands of members.

However, the story also prompted a succession of wild theories, often based on unsubstantiated rumour, fabricated screenshots of online messages from people connected to the case and, in some cases, faked videos purporting to show Mr Slater or what happened to him.

Liz Kelly CBE a British professor and director of the Child and Woman Abuse Studies Unit at London Metropolitan University wrote "Absolutely heartbreaking. Hope all you vile trolls are ashamed! Sick."

What motivates trolls?

Why do people do this, what gives them the right to spread their claims and theories irrespective of the damage they can do? That’s the danger of social media. It gives a grandstand to every conspiracy theorists and amateur crime specialists to make their views known. Rarely, if ever, do they let their identities be known.

The impact of online trolling extends beyond the digital realm, often causing real harm to individuals who fall victim to these attacks. The psychological impact on victims of online trolling can be profound, leading to feelings of distress, anxiety, and low self-esteem. Cyberbullying and harassment, perpetuated by online trolls, can have long-lasting consequences on the mental well-being of individuals targeted. Moreover, the pervasive nature of online trolling means that victims may find it challenging to escape the relentless barrage of negative and hurtful comments. It is crucial to recognize the harmful effects of online trolling and work towards creating a safer and more respectful online environment for all users. If only that was possible.

Who shot Donald Trump?

Since the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, conspiracy theorists have gone wild. This is the sort of situation they love, they know the answer. Some claim it was Joe Biden himself who fired the rifle. Others claim that the President was behind a scheme to assassinate this rival. There is no limit to what the online trolls will claim, some even believe them.

That’s where the real problem starts. Few if any people believe these wild theories, but when it comes to something like vaccinations, then they get a huge audience, and many who believe what they claim.

I can’t tell you if vaccines are safe, but nor can the armchair scientists who spout endless claims about supposed side affects, damage, non-effectiveness of their ‘pet hate’ vaccine. Whether you believe them or not is a matter for you, but I would rather trust credible research and base any decision of what they say. There is enough credible evidence available to you, trolls are not one of these.

Trolls or conspiracy theorists?

What’s the difference? Most conspiracy theorists generally don’t bother to hide their identity. Trolls are cowards who hide behind fake identities in order to harass and abuse people in difficulties. Liz Kelly is right, “Hope all you vile trolls are ashamed! Sick."

Resident in Portugal for 50 years, publishing and writing about Portugal since 1977. Privileged to have seen, firsthand, Portugal progress from a dictatorship (1974) into a stable democracy. 

Paul Luckman