The Participation Blog

Beware the Trolls; They’re Us

We talk a lot in these emails about understanding and dealing with public conflict and anger but we don’t often get into the subject of online bullies and trolls. Fact is, humans are naturally wired to cooperate, but online anonymity is a game changer – trolls have nothing to lose and even normally reasonable people can turn into Internet bullies. Advertising fuels the web and corporate algorithms designed to keep us clicking and coming back to sell ads can encourage bad behavior. The truth is, we’re being had, folks.