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The Internet has always been inseparable from trolls, but trolls can literally ruin the lives of some users. What really pushes these toxic people to take action? This is precisely what researchers from the American University of Cornell, Julie Jiang, Luca Luceri and Emilio Ferrara, wondered , who carried out a very interesting study on this subject.
To see things more clearly, the authors focused on X (formerly Twitter) and scrutinized numerous publications. It thus appears that the approval of other Internet users is preponderant in the behavior of trolls.
Trolls united in a ”festival of hate” ;
Concretely, when a toxic post receives many mentions ”I like”, the author's next message will be even more violent because the latter receives the likes in a very positive way.
In an article published on the site The Conversation, Joseph B. Walther, visiting scholar at Harvard University, emphasizes thus: “It now appears that the same dynamics that can make some online relationships overwhelmingly positive can also fuel friendly feelings among those who band together online to express enmity toward identity groups and individual targets“ ;#8221;.
Concretely, these Internet users who are brought together by their hateful ideology tend to support each other, and this disinhibits to take action. The academic cites in particular the case of neo-Nazi groups and white supremacists who are affected by this phenomenon.
He adds:
Over the course of more than 30 years of research into online interactions, I have documented how people make friends and form relationships online. It now appears that the same dynamics that can make some online relationships overwhelmingly positive can also fuel friendly feelings among those who unite online to express enmity toward identity groups and individual targets. It's more or less a “hate fest”.
No doubt these observations will be closely followed by major social media platforms. The latter are notably required to report on the moderation of hate speech at the European Union level, under penalty of being exposed to heavy fines.
This that we must remember:
- A study focused on the reasons which pushed Internet users to use hate speech
- Their ideology is of course a factor, but it appears that social approval, in the form of likes, can push them to be even more violent
- The social networks have an interest in better moderating these publications, because they are now exposed to sanctions within the European Union
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