Cabbage Patch 1: Troll Pathologies
Notes from “Inside the Mind of an Internet Troll”—Arthur Brooks (2026)
Here are my notes from an Arthur Brooks essay originally published at The Free Press that James Grissom shared on his Substack. Note: this summary isn’t a substitute for reading the article itself—Brooks captures the shock most of us have felt when we first encountered someone being viciously go-for-the-throat in their response to something we meant to be taken positively and inclusively. This phenomenon is something I noticed back in the early 1990s, and was an inspiration for my Wired column “ASCII Is Too Intimate” (1994).
Notes from “Inside the Mind of an Internet Troll”—Arthur Brooks (2026)
Brooks opens with a disarming anecdote: he published a sincere essay about loving your ideological enemies, yet the very first comment was “Arthur Brooks can eat a plate of hot trash.” The piece drills down into what motivates this trollish response.
A. Who are trolls, psychologically?
Trolls aren’t defined by demographics—they can be anyone, including “kindly grandmothers.” What matters are personality traits. They disproportionately belong to the “Dark Tetrad”: narcissism, Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and sadism. That last one—taking pleasure in harming others—turns out to be the most predictive trait of all. Neuroscience backs this up, showing overlapping brain activity patterns between heavy trolls and people with antisocial/psychopathic tendencies.
B. Why do platforms enable it?
Regardless of the benign or at least neutral intentions of many platform designers (though not all of them—I take X.com to be a notable exception), engagement-based algorithms disproportionately reward emotionally charged conflict. This has the effect of platforms’ essentially converting human misery into profit. Over time, forums get worse—well-adjusted people leave, leaving trolls to troll each other while silent spectators watch.
C. The “righteousness” rationalization
Trolls themselves give four reasons for their behavior: revenge, thrill-seeking, perceived social justice, and rebutting bad arguments. Brooks is blunt: even the last two are still just trolling. And it backfires—the “boomerang effect” means the more you abuse someone, the stronger their existing views become. Hate-posters also carry elevated anger and anxiety after posting, not before.
Brooks’s advice
Don’t engage. Trolls want your attention.
Better yet, leave the forum entirely.
Even passive exposure to online hate raises anxiety, depression, and desensitizes you to abuse.
Examine your own posting behavior honestly.
[I agree with some aspects of this advice, but I have argued that internet stewardship—as distinct from mere “usership”—strongly suggests that one do more than silently leave the field. I make my case for that here and here.]
What sometimes makes trolling (in others) useful
Trolling behavior is actually a useful screening tool—for dates and for employers. Ask someone casually if they enjoy insulting people online. Any affirmative answer is a big red flag.
In some ways, Brooks’s article is a good companion piece to my Godwin’s Ethic series. I think he’s especially astute in underscoring the “boomerang effect” but I’ll note that, in my experience, platforms algorithmically reward catchy one-liners too. Sadly, not everyone admires one-liners as an art form.
Here’s a bibliography of Brooks’s sources:
1. “Love them” - Brooks’ prior essay on loving ideological enemies
Brooks, A. (n.d.). How to heal our country. The Free Press.
2. Online harassment statistics
Vogels, E.A. (2021, January 13). The state of online harassment. Pew Research Center.
https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2021/01/13/the-state-of-online-harassment/
3. Cyberbullying rates among adolescents
Hinduja, S., & Patchin, J.W. (n.d.). Summary of our cyberbullying research. Cyberbullying Research Center.
https://cyberbullying.org/summary-of-our-cyberbullying-research
4. “Kindly grandmothers” who troll
Troll exposed: granny anonymous business owner. The Sun.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/fabulous/32617328/troll-exposed-granny-anonymous-business-owner/
5. Dark Triads / last week’s column (referenced twice)
Brooks, A. (n.d.). Dating apps aren’t broken. The Free Press.
6. Dark Tetrad personality research
Hidalgo-Fuentes, S., & González-Pérez, M.A. (2025). Relationship between online trolling and Dark Tetrad personality traits: A meta-analysis. PubMed 41187007.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41187007/
7. Sadism as the most prevalent trolling trait
Buckels, E.E., Trapnell, P.D., & Paulhus, D.L. (2014). Trolls just want to have fun. Personality and Individual Differences, 67, 97-102. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2014.01.016
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0191886914000324
8. Brain regions linked to problematic internet use
Park, B., & Han, D.H. (2017). Neurobiological findings related to Internet use disorders. Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, 71(7), 467-478. https://doi.org/10.1111/pcn.12422
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/pcn.12422
9. Psychopathic and antisocial brain tendencies
Yang, Y., & Raine, A. (2009). Prefrontal structural and functional brain imaging findings in antisocial, violent, and psychopathic individuals: A meta-analysis. Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, 174(2), 81-88. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pscychresns.2009.03.012
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2784035/
10. Weak behavioral inhibition system in trolls
Molenda, Z.A., Marchlewska, M., Rogoza, M., Michalski, P., Górska, P., Szczepańska, D., & Cislak, A. (2022). What makes an Internet troll? On the relationships between temperament (BIS/BAS), Dark Triad, and Internet trolling. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 16(5), Article 11. https://doi.org/10.5817/CP2022-5-11
https://cyberpsychology.eu/article/view/15360
11. Same behavioral inhibition pattern in prisoners
Wallace, J.F., Malterer, M.B., & Newman, J.P. (2009). Mapping Gray’s BIS and BAS constructs onto Factor 1 and Factor 2 of Hare’s Psychopathy Checklist - Revised. Personality and Individual Differences, 47(8), 812-816. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2009.06.019
12. Comment sections on essays “about love” - Abigail Shrier reference
Shrier, A. (n.d.). Author profile. The Free Press.
https://www.thefp.com/w/abigail-shrier
13. Trolling traits in news comment sections (2020)
Sorokowski, P., Kowal, M., Zdybek, P., & Oleszkiewicz, A. (2020). Are online haters psychopaths? Psychological predictors of online hating behavior. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, Article 553. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00553
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00553/full
14. Anonymous handles and trolling
Barlett, C.P., Gentile, D.A., & Chew, C. (2016). Predicting cyberbullying from anonymity. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 5(2), 171-180. https://doi.org/10.1037/ppm0000055
https://drdouglas.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/barlett2016.pdf
15. Trolls driving healthy people out of forums (2022)
Urbaniak, R., Ptaszyński, M., Tempska, P., Leliwa, G., Brochocki, M., & Wroczyński, M. (2022). Personal attacks decrease user activity in social networking platforms. Computers in Human Behavior, 126, Article 106972. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2021.106972
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0747563221002958
16. Passive exposure to online hate raises anxiety/depression
Madriaza, P., Hassan, G., Brouillette-Alarie, S., Njingouo Mounchingam, A., Durocher-Corfa, L., Borokhovski, E., Pickup, D., & Paillé, S. (2025). Exposure to hate in online and traditional media: A systematic review and meta-analysis of the impact of this exposure on individuals and communities. Campbell Systematic Reviews, 21(1). https://doi.org/10.1002/cl2.70018
17. Four reasons trolls give for their behavior
Mao, C., et al. (2023). Motivations for proactive and reactive trolling on social media: Developing and validating a four-factor model. Social Media + Society. https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051231203682
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/20563051231203682
18. The “boomerang effect”
Abelson, R.P., & Miller, J.C. (1967). Negative persuasion via personal insult. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 3(4), 321-333. https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-1031(67)90001-7
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0022103167900017
19. Hate-posters show elevated anger and anxiety after posting
Ghenai, A., Noorian, Z., Moradisani, H., Abadeh, P., Erentzen, C., & Zarrinkalam, F. (2025). Exploring hate speech dynamics: The emotional, linguistic, and thematic impact on social media users. Information Processing & Management, 62(3), 104079. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ipm.2025.104079
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ipm.2025.104079 (Note: the DOI in the article resolves to a related 2025 paper; the exact authorship of the specific cited study cannot not be fully verified from the locked page.)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306457325000214