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It's a form of learning. Children do this all the time. The social function is to find out what the social boundaries are. Simplifying a great deal, and summar
by mafribe 10y ago
It's a form of learning. Children do this all the time. The social function is to find out what the social boundaries are.
Simplifying a great deal, and summarising a century of social theory, what is stable in society are second-order expectations, i.e. what others expect myself and others to do. But social expectations are not directly observable, which is a problem. Trolling is a form of behaviour that teases out others's reactions which gives us information about their boundary between socially acceptable and socially unacceptable behaviour.
- peller 10y agoI think you're mostly right, but is it not a form of learning with an expiration date? Like, once a user of this strategy reaches a certain age, it becomes socially unforgivable?
- grimbo 10y agoI don't think it becomes socially 'unforgivable' per se. Although it really could be experienced as such when done with people who you don't know at least a little. My friends and I often try to illicit reactions from each other but everyone knows it's just a game and in the end no one gets hurt. I would say that's what separates trolling from just plain bullying: people know it's just a game of sorts.
- rosser 10y agoBusting balls amongst friends is materially different from trolling strangers on the internet.