Sociopath Community

In recent years the study of online communities has started to flourish and those who study them have drawn on the work of narrative theorists and anthropologists in order to categorize and profile those to reside within these here digital confines. Most of you will probably not have the patience to read this. I'm partly studying narrative theory right now, so it did interest me.

Original Article - http://www.trollingacademy.org/online-safety-sociability/207/avatars-characters-troll-snert-online-communities-virtual-worlds/

According to Jonathan Bishop, a guy who actually studies this shit you will all probably conform with one or a combination of these character profiles (this is all one big hefty quote):

"Lurker
Driven by ‘Surveillance’ forces. Lurkers make silent calls by accident, etc.,
clicking on adverts or ‘like’ buttons, using ’referrer spoofers’,
reporting posts, modifying opinion polls or user kudos scores.

Elder
Driven by ‘Escape’ forces. An Elder is an out bound member of the community,
often engaging in “trolling for newbies”, where they wind up the newer
members often without questioning from other members.

Troll
Driven by ‘Chaos’ forces. A Troll takes part in trolling to entertain others,
bringing some fun and mischief to an online community.

Big Man
Driven by ‘Order’ forces. A Big Man does trolling by posting something pleasing to others in order to support their world view.

Flirt
Driven by ‘Social’ forces. A Flirt takes part in trolling to help others be sociable, including through light ’teasing’.

Snert
Driven by ‘Anti-social’ forces. A Snert takes part in trolling to harm others for their own sick entertainment.

MHBFYJenny
Driven by ‘Forgiveness forces’. A MHBFY Jenny takes part in trolling to help
people see the lighter side of life and to help others come to terms
with their concerns.

E-Venger
Driven by ‘Vengeance’ forces. An E-Venger does trolling in order to trip someone up so that their ‘true colours’ are revealed.

Wizard
Driven by ‘Creative’ forces. A Wizard does trolling through making up and sharing content that has humorous effect.

Iconoclast
Driven by ‘Destructive’ forces. An Iconoclast takes part in trolling to help
others discover ‘the truth’, often by telling them things completely
factual, but which may drive them into a state of consternation. They
may post links to content that contradicts the worldview of their
target.

Ripper
Driven by ‘Thanatotic’ forces. A Ripper takes part in self-deprecating
trolling in order to build a false sense of empathy from others.

Chatroom Bob
Driven by ‘Existential’ forces. A chatroom bob takes part in trolling to gain
the trust of others members in order to exploit them.

Lurkers and Elders

Lurkers do not have a persistent identity or obvious visibility in the online
community. While they take part, such as by clicking advertisements,
voting in polls and voting others kudos points up or down. More often
than not their posts are kudos trolling and occasionally they will
change their web browser’s ‘referrer address’ which tells the community
the last website they visited to one of a search engine with
entertaining words in the search results. Lurkers are best suited to
communities where one doesn’t need to take part to stay a member and
where there are a lot of activities that can’t identify them, such as
polls, and other voting. Elders on the other hand, while experienced and
knowledgeable about the community and its norms, are cynical and
looking for a reason to leave the community. Their flame trolling will
often be directed to the novices, commonly called ‘trolling for
newbies’, who they will try to incite to start a tirade of abusive
messages, known as a ‘flame war’, which they know the Big Men and Snerts
will get caught up in. Elders, like Trolls, are best suited to
communities where there is a clear divide between “Us” and “Them” groups
which novice members are likely to be strongly for or against and
therefore easily susceptible to flame trolling.

Flirts and Snerts

Flirts are those who take part in online communities to share their experiences
and support others achieve the things they want. To do this they take
part in kudos trolling where they pretty much only post comments which
are in agreement with others and which they support with evidence from
their own lives. Flirts like communities to have a solid chat or
discussion forum open to anyone. Snerts on the other hand take part in
flame trolling where they offend and abuse others. They will call people
names that are insulting to them and attack them personally rather than
attack the substance of their arguments. They will sometimes go to
great lengths to offend others, such as by making offensive videos about
them or starting posts dedicated to abuse of them. Snerts take well to
communities where there is complete anonymity, “free speech” and no
checks or recording of their true identities.

Trolls and Big Men

Trolls are people who liven up online communities through post messages that
while having someone at the butt of the joke are entertaining to others.
A type of kudos trolling, the messages posted by trollers, while not
usually constructive, hold the community together, especially when the
targets of the jokes are the Snerts. Trolls tend to target communities
where there is a clear “Us” and “Them”, such as those based around
sports teams where there is clear tribalism and competitiveness. The Big
Men also unite the community, but not in a peaceful way. They take in
upon themselves to be the arbitrator of right and wrong forming a de
facto council which the Snerts especially object to leading them to
unite against the Big Men.

The messages of Big Men can therefore be seen to be a type of flame
trolling. Big Men are best suited to communities which are disorganised
with no clear structure where they can try to assert some order, such as
flaming people if they go off topic.

MHBFY Jennies and E-Vengers

MHBFY Jennies, or in other words ‘My Heart Bleeds For You Jennies’ are the
agony aunts and counsellors of the online community. They show empathy
for all members, whether the Big Men who are often set upon by the
Snerts, or even the individual Snerts, who they try to fix into being
nice people. Their kudos trolling takes the form of humorous comments
that help others see the lighter side of life. MHBFY Jennies are best
suited to health support communities where people are looking for advice
and support during troubled times. E-Vengers on the other hand have a
point to prove and grievance to air. They may have been wronged by a
particular group of people or previously banned from a community which
they then re-join under a pseudonym. E-Vengers are best suited to
communities where there is a clear bias that supports their point of
view, or where there are few identity checks and pseudonyms can be used
to support anonymity or multiple identities.

Wizards and Iconoclasts

Wizards provide a creative spark to the online community. They are always
looking to be original, through editing wikis to make them informative,
designing and selling virtual goods in virtual worlds, or helping others
think ‘outside the box’ in forums. When they do their kudos trolling it
might be to make a ‘deliberate mistake’ or put ‘hidden code’ into pages
which if found could be entertaining. Wizards are best suited to
communities where one can make lots on contributions or a difference to
others’ lives. Their opposites, the Iconoclasts on the other had seek to
destroy content or shatter the certainty others have in their beliefs.
For instance in a forum, if they know someone holds a particular point
of view they will link to an authoritative source that disproves it. The
Iconoclasts are best suited to communities where they can remove or
change content or otherwise disrupt them through ‘edit wars’ where they
battle with others to have their unconstructive edits accepted. In wikis
they are the ‘deletionists’ who want content which does not support
their worldview removed.

Chatroom Bobs and Rippers

Chatroom Bobs are driven purely by their desire for a thrill. They will post
jokes others find entertaining but this is only to seduce them so that
they do something to fulfil their needs, such as asking them to send
sexualised photographs for the Chatroom Bobs own pleasure. Chatroom Bobs
are best suited to communities that are not moderated and where there
is a private messaging feature and ability to share images privately.
The Rippers on the other hand provide a depressive look at the world to
online communities, which strangely promote community cohesion through
the Flirts and MHBFY Jennies having a ‘victim’ to support and nurture.
Their kudos trolling is often in the form of self-deprecating jokes,
which can help make others feel a sense of superiority, such as the
Snerts. Rippers are best suited to communities that are made of people
who offer lots of suggestions, which they can keep giving excuses to
turn down as they are only looking for sympathy."