In Scandinavian mythology a troll is an evil and mischievous creature, who enjoys doing all sorts of nasty tricks on the humans he meets on his way. By analogy, in the world of the web a troll is a user who enters a virtual community by sending provocative, irritating, offensive messages, and in any case capable of embittering spirits. The New Zealanders have dedicated a study to these "permanent hecklers", which shows that internet trolls - especially those active on Facebook - would be much more tame in real life. A lot of smoke, in short, and little roast. According to Professor Val Hooper of the School of Information Management of Victoria University, who conducted the research, there could be a gap, even large, between the behavior held offline and that exhibited online. Computer screen protection would make everyone more free to express themselves, without worrying too much about the consequences. “If you send an offensive message on the net, you can't read the damage he has received in the eyes of your interlocutor” observes Hooper, “the visibility of the other's reaction is lacking and it is this tangible aspect that often works as a deterrent”.
Not to mention, then, that online you have more time to choose your words and increase the effectiveness and impact of your speech. Summing up the results of the study, Hooper says he is concerned about the lack of strong guidelines in terms of behavioral norms in the world of the web. The very young in particular would be disoriented. The part of the study dedicated to communication dynamics on Facebook focused above all on children up to the age of 20. “A large number of interviewees” says the professor “admitted to calibrate their online behavior by imitating what the members of the virtual community to which they belong do”. In short, you opt for a given attitude and then wait for the sanction of your Facebook friends to decide if this behavior is acceptable. Furthermore, the community of online friends seems to be chosen with less freedom than in real life. It emerges from the survey that there is a sort of "obligation" to grant friendship to someone who asks for it on the net and many interviewees confess that they keep people they don't really appreciate among their virtual friends.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/technology/news/article.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=11204762
