Trolling campaigns targeting individuals for perpetrator amusement
Creating and sharing deceptive content (including fake profiles) to mock or humiliate targets
Coordinated harassment where participants join in "for fun" rather than deeper motivations
Description
Entertainment-driven abuse is characterized by perpetrators seeking amusement through causing harm, often without concern for actual impact on targets.
Perpetrators, especially adolescent perpetrators, may cyberbully "just for fun," noting this motivation differs from gaining pleasure by hurting others because perpetrators focused on entertainment "may not be concerned about whether or not their targets are hurt" (Varjas, 2010). Often seen in the context of schools, targeting teachers and classmates, studies document "boredom" as a key driver where perpetrators victimize others "in an effort to fill time or create entertainment" (Varjas et al., 2010). Researchers have found strong correlations between sadism and trolling behavior, concluding that "online trolls are prototypical everyday sadists" who experience "sadistic glee at the distress of others" (Buckels, 2014).
"Gendertrolling" has been identified as a distinct subset of trolling behavior where "mostly male trolls harass mostly women" for entertainment purposes (Meyer et al., 2019). Female influencers have been shown to experience greater frequency of online harassment, with more violent material, than their male counterparts (Views4You, 2024).
References
Evelyn, S., Clancy, E. M., Klettke, B., & Tatnell, R. (2022). A Phenomenological Investigation into Cyberbullying as Experienced by People Identifying as Transgender or Gender Diverse. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(11), 6560. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19116560
Abreu, R. L., & Kenny, M. C. (2017). Cyberbullying and LGBTQ Youth: A Systematic Literature Review and Recommendations for Prevention and Intervention. Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma, 11(1), 81–97. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40653-017-0175-7
Paananen, A., & Reichl, A. J. (2019). Gendertrolls just want to have fun, too. Personality and Individual Differences, 141(94), 152–156. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2019.01.011
Todd, P. R., & Melancon, J. (2019). Gender Differences in Perceptions of Trolling in Livestream Video Broadcasting. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 22(7), 472–476. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2018.0560