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Disruptive online communication: How asymmetric trolling-like response strategies steer conversation off the track

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Internet trolling, a form of antisocial online behavior, is a serious problem plaguing social media. Skillful trolls can lure entire communities into degenerative and polarized discussions that continue endlessly. From analysis of data gathered in accordance with established classifications of trolling-like behavior, the paper presents a conversation analysis of trolling-like interaction strategies that disrupt online discussions. The authors argue that troll-like users exploit other users’ desire for common grounding – i.e., joint maintenance of mutual understanding and seeking of conversational closure – by responding asymmetrically. Their responses to others deviate from expectations for typical paired actions in turn-taking. These asymmetries, described through examples of three such behaviors – ignoring, mismatching, and challenging – lead to dissatisfactory interactions, in that they subvert other users’ desire for clarification and explanation of contra-normative social behavior. By avoiding clarifications, troll-like users easily capture unsuspecting users’ attention and manage to prolong futile conversations interminably. Through the analysis, the paper connects trolling-like asymmetric response strategies with concrete data and addresses the implications of this nonconformist behavior for common grounding in social-media venues.

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Paakki, Henna; Vepsäläinen, Heidi; Salovaara, Antti (2021): Disruptive online communication: How asymmetric trolling-like response strategies steer conversation off the track. Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW): Vol. 30, No. 3. DOI: 10.1007/s10606-021-09397-1. Springer. PISSN: 1573-7551. pp. 425-461

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Asymmetric responses, CMC, Common grounding, Conversation analysis, Disruptive communication, Trolling

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Number of citations to item: 8

  • W. M. L. Finlay, J. Cattier, K. Donois, L. Goodings, E. Kaminskiy, C. Owen, L. Storey, V. Swami (2024): Norms concerning the recognition of victimhood in postconflict societies: An analysis of “whatabouteries” in online sectarian arguments, In: Political Psychology 1(46), doi:10.1111/pops.12988
  • Saloni Dash, Rynaa Grover, Gazal Shekhawat, Sukhnidh Kaur, Dibyendu Mishra, Joyojeet Pal (2022): Insights Into Incitement: A Computational Perspective on Dangerous Speech on Twitter in India, In: ACM SIGCAS/SIGCHI Conference on Computing and Sustainable Societies (COMPASS), doi:10.1145/3530190.3534800
  • O. Yu. Gukosyants (2024): Conflict Prevention in Internet during Spread of Coronavirus Infection (Survey Results), In: Nauchnyi dialog 1(13), doi:10.24224/2227-1295-2024-13-1-141-158
  • Henna Paakki, Heidi Vepsäläinen, Antti Salovaara, Bushra Zafar (2024): Detecting Covert Disruptive Behavior in Online Interaction by Analyzing Conversational Features and Norm Violations, In: ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction 2(31), doi:10.1145/3635143
  • Nigel C. Wilson, Kathryn C. Seigfried-Spellar (2022): Cybervictimization, Social, and Financial Strains Influence Internet Trolling Behaviors: A General Strain Theory Perspective, In: Social Science Computer Review 3(41), doi:10.1177/08944393211065868
  • Christine L. Cook, Simon Yun-Chung Tang, Jih-Hsuan Tammy Lin (2023): Billy goats crossing the cyber-bridge: Interviews exploring the experiences, coping techniques, and intervention desires of in-game trolling targets, In: Communication Monographs 1(91), doi:10.1080/03637751.2023.2252487
  • Daniel Kusaila, Natalie Gerhart (2023): Sarcastic emojis: why don’t you understand?, In: Global Knowledge, Memory and Communication, doi:10.1108/gkmc-06-2023-0196
  • Giulia Terzian, María Inés Corbalán (2024): Diabolical devil’s advocates and the weaponization of illocutionary force, In: The Philosophical Quarterly, doi:10.1093/pq/pqae033
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