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Trolls have become a reality. In Moldova, too. They affect public opinion and are an effective tool for information warfare. Do we care about our informational health? If yes, then it would be reasonable to take care of comments and news.
Who is a troll? A bit of theory
According to Wikipedia, a troll is a person who sows discord on the Internet and upsets people by posting critical messages on news websites, blogs, or social networking websites. His goal is to provoke an emotional response and to disrupt discussion, often for the troll’s amusement.
A troll usually behaves provocatively and is associated with hate speech on the Internet, which is equal to online harassment. Another important aspect of troll psychology is the sense of „power”, „greatness,” and „domination” over others which these people feel when they write online.
Five types of trolls
The darkpsychology.co website has identified over 100 types of trolls. I will focus on the five categories that I’ve met in Moldova the most often:
„Many-faced troll.” It is the type of troll who has several accounts and writes comments from them. You may see him commenting to a post or a news story and then reacting to it with another comment, thus judging the position he himself voiced earlier. Doing so, he imitates a discussion between different people. Those who don’t realize it is a troll may take this discussion seriously and even come to an opinion. I came across such post writers on news websites and on Facebook. When I ran the UNIMEDIA news site, which had its own comments system, it was easy to track them down by the IPs from which they commented.
„Troll – ideologist.” It is a person who has an opinion about a specific subject and, regardless of the topic discussed, he discovers a conspiracy theory.
„Troll – political soldier.” Whatever the mistake committed by the leader of the political party he is a member of, the troll will find an excuse for it. Even if the discussion is focused on a cultural or social topic, it will still be looked at through the prism of politics. Just like many-faced trolls, they can be easily tracked by the IP from which they comment.
„YouTube Commentator." These trolls are less related to politics. As a rule, this is the type of person who is ready to prove that the posted song is a nothing and the performance „is a disaster.”
„Troll Bot.” It is a kind of „robot” that posts links and other spam messages that have nothing to do with the topic of the publication they are posted to. I recently saw an employment ad posted in an ad group, through which the Russian propaganda website Sputnik recruited such „bots” to promote its news through social networking websites.
Why is this phenomenon important?
Besides the fact that they annoy and insult, trolls may influence public opinion. Lots of people ignore traditional media and news sites and form their opinion based on the information they read on forums. Thus, writers of posts from political parties play a critical role.
In this context, „The Guardian” recently conducted an investigation on Kremlin’s trolls. They found in St. Petersburg a company taking four floors of a building, where trolls worked professionally in two shifts: day and night.
In Moldova, especially during parliamentary or presidential election campaigns, virtually every political party has its own team of writers of posts, who are very active on news and social networking websites. Every day, they receive from their party key messages that are to be promoted. These trolls are the persons who most frequently initiate fake news campaigns.
How to fight it?
There is much to say. Things are changing so quickly that it is difficult to make a list of actions and be sure that they will work. I have listed some actions below, but I don’t claim this list is exhaustive.
Ignoring them. It is ignoring that causes their greatest discontent, because thus they don’t feel their „power” and „fame.” So, they are much easier to get rid of if just ignored. They get bored and leave.
Moderating comments. It works for personal accounts and, especially, for news websites. Some websites have their own comments systems and their own moderation functions. Now, it is important that the editorial staff notice such comments on time and step in.
User blocking. This is a less „orthodox,” but effective way to get rid of the users who leave too much spam in posts or insult other friends during conversation.
Reporting to the „Trolless” application or to the „Trollhunt” group. Recently, a very useful app was launched, called „Trolless.” You can easily find it through Facebook search. Also, there is a Facebook group, „Trollhunt,” where users report about trolls and more people are informed.
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The article was published within the Advocacy Campaigns Aimed at Improving Transparency of Media Ownership, Access to Information and promotion of EU values and integration project, implemented by the IJC, which is, in its turn, part of the Moldova Partnerships for Sustainable Civil Society project, implemented by FHI 360.
This article is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The content are the responsibility of author and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.
