Online trolling has been present for years and has been seen in chat rooms, forums, and nearly all massive multiplayer online games. Hiding behind the anonymity of the internet, some people feel at liberty to purposely upset or mess with other people for a joke or for their own enjoyment. Although there are different types of trolls, sometimes trolling comes with malicious intent that can negatively impact someone in their real life. Suddenly, you’re being harassed by people you’ve seen on the internet whom you’ve never even met before as was the case with Zoe Quinn and GamerGate. 

One thing I found particularly interesting from this week’s readings was from the Under the Bridge where they talked about the triggers of trolling. As it turns out, “being trolled first was the single most popular reason to begin trolling… Trolling appears to breed trolling, with the behaviour seemingly becoming a social contagion among gamers” (Cook et al, 3325). After reading this, I realized how true this was and recalled how often these situations would arise where I found myself witnessing or participating in while gaming online. 

One of the few online multiplayer games I play relatively often is Riot Game’s League of Legends (LoL). To me, LoL is the most fun when it is competitive and everyone is trying their hardest to win, utilizing strategy and communication to take objectives and win fights. There exists a competitive solo/duo ranked queue where you (and a friend) can queue up for a game where you can earn or lose competitive points. As I see it, ranked is both the most fun and the most toxic gamemode you can play in LoL. As an example of the social trolling trigger talked about in Under the Bridge article, in many games players slip up early into the match and other players start to complain in chat about their performance which results in arguments with each other in chat. Eventually, team morale plummets, players start intentionally dying to the enemies, and occasionally, there are rage quits. Because one player decided to troll and  make a comment on another’s performance, it caused the other player to react by snapping back with another comment which spiraled into both players physical trolling by intentionally feeding and creating discord in the team dynamic which ultimately cost the game. 

Trolling can be a rampant problem that a lot of people don’t know how to deal with. Good resources like The Center for Solution of Violence that we saw in class this week among others can be used for victims and trolls alike. I personally learned through using the site just how easily someone can find information about you online that was put there by social media and other applications and websites without your knowledge. Taking extra precautions to protect your identity online is definitely a must if you spend a lot of time on the internet.