Trolling and cyber-bullying: What's the difference?

Is there a difference between trolls and cyber-bullies? A researchers says there is. Photo / 123RF

Is there a difference between trolls and cyber-bullies?

It seems there is, says a University of Canterbury researcher whose doctoral studies have explored what motivates these pesky characters of our digital lives.

Maja Golf-Papez described cyberbullying as a targeted attack, with the purpose of causing harm to an individual person.

In New Zealand, recorded rates of cyber-bullying are alarmingly high: a recent study found nearly half 18 to 19-year-olds had experienced it, with the problem worse among females in that age group.

It's also illegal - under the Government's Harmful Digital Communications Act, cyberbullies can be fined up to $5000 for harassing people online.

But trolling, on the other hand, was when someone was simply being deceptive and mischievous.

"A troll typically has no intent to cause harm but is trying to provoke a reaction."

In an effort to understand mischief-making consumer behaviours among online trolls, she sought out some to interview.

As she did so, she was trolled many times and found trolls had been removed or banned from pages before she got a chance to interact with them.

"Good trolls are elusive and, I find, highly intelligent characters," she said.

"They know how to look after themselves and operate within but on the fringes of the law."

Once she tracked them down, Golf-Papez started her data collection by interviewing so-called celebrity trolls.

As with other groups in all areas of society, a certain level of celebrity has been attached to individuals in the trolling community.

Some of these trolls had half a million followers, who were eager to see what they'd do next, encouraged their behaviour, dressed themselves as targets and "rewarded" trolls in the online currency of likes, comments and reactions - both negative and positive.

From these interviews, five case studies were established highlighting different types of trolling behaviour across different channels.

University of Canterbury doctoral researcher Maja Golf-Papez, right, with her academic supervisor Associate Professor Ekant Veer. Photo / Supplied

As another part of her research, Golf-Papez interacted with some targets, bystanders and online moderators, and conducted more than 300 hours of online observation of trolling across different channels, including gaming platforms, forums, social media channels and news platforms.

Having since published a paper in the Journal of Marketing Management, she's been surprised at some of the surprise benefits that come with trolling.

A number of trolls were gaining financial benefits from view rates and advertising space, as well as conventional business transactions.

"Some more risky brands are paying trolls to pose as customer service reps to respond to complaints and questions in a way the brand couldn't or wouldn't usually."

In a society constantly in need of entertainment, her research considered whether trolling had become just another form of it.

While audience members find trolling amusing, some trolling acts caused problems for the targets, firms and online moderators.

Golf-Papez hoped her findings would help to differentiate the behaviours of trolls and cyberbullies, while informing education around what - if anything - should be done about them.

Her academic supervisor, Associate Professor Ekant Veer, said the work had the potential to show that "actor-network theory" - where everything in the social and natural worlds exists in constantly shifting networks of relationship - could play a real role understanding online phenomena like trolling.

Further, Veer said, it could show trolling was a multi-faceted practice that has both positives and negatives.

"Her work is already challenging the way trolls are defined and the way in which they are different from cyberbullies or other online negative behaviours."