There's plenty of studies and articles written on the psychology of internet trolls.
It's generally accepted narcissim and psycopathy play a part, and lack of empathy via the anonymity and lacknof face to face contributes. Give this a read, but note these srticles are always a rehash of studies, so always better to go to the primary source (noting they can be very hard to understand as a lay person):
https://neurosciencenews.com/drk-triad-trolling-18825/amp/Obviously that doesn't mean every troll is a literal psychopath- they just likely have those parts to their personality sufficient to want to act like that, and then to actually do it.
Most would never act like they do on here if the interactions were happening in person at a pub, for example.
I find the response to trolls very interesting, as well. We have a few on here who are
clearly just out to inflame and provoke. Yet they often get responded to as if genuine. Or they get accused of being some sort of paid shill, which is almost certainly rarely, if ever, the case.
But yeah, that's the internet - they're everywhere. It's simply fun for some people.
And HC is simply a perfect place to troll - lots of people emotionally and financially invested (literally).
I am often surprised by how successful even the most blatant and obvious (and generally utterly stupid) trolls are.
The ones you really need to watch out for are the posters who really understand an area / business and sow doubt without histrionics and abuse. Who knows what the true motivations are - fun, money, satisfying some dark part of their personality, all three, more?
Here on DW8, we largely get just the histrionics and abuse. It's a tad sad - some trolls can be quite funny they way they do their thing, we typically get maximum puerile, minimum funny on here unfortunately.
But ultimately it's an anonymous forum - best bet is to doubt everything you read as a first approach and always make up your own mind.
As far as the obvious trolls, best approach is to not get sucked in. Mock their idiocy and don't act like you buy what they're saying and stay calm... or better yet - don't reply.
You can't "win" an argument with a troll. They want it circular and pointless, and ultimately don't care about their position.
(20min delay)