In the first episode of this new podcast series we are coping with online trolling. Online trolling can be defined as malicious online behaviour actively put in action to provoke, upset, and harm people through hate speech, violent messages, and death threats. We were joined by Ginger Gorman, an Australian investigative journalist, and author of ‘Troll Hunting’. Ginger Gorman has experienced online hate first-hand as a victim of online trolling. 

Ginger explained that once the troll attacks quietened, she found herself less fearful for her safety and her family’s one, and more curious to understand who these trolls were. Ginger built a relationship with one of them to gain this understanding.  She found how dangerous this person was, discovering they were not only involved in cyber-hate, but also in real-life crimes.  Psychopathy, machiavellism, narcissism, and sadism are all traits of online trolls. Sadism has the strongest correlation, meaning that by upsetting their victims, trolls take pleasure from it. Gorman explained how these personality traits were perfectly profiling the troll she met in real life. Among the victims, online trolling can be associated with distress, self-harm, and sometimes, even suicide.

It is clear that online actions have offline consequences. To help us feel less powerless in front of this complicated phenomenon, Ginger gave us 5 practical solutions to tackle online trolling.