Hvordan brands kan tackle trolling ved at fjerne det aktiverende publikum

Sociale medieplatforme bør skjule visningsmålingerne for ondsindet indhold, der er postet af trolde som en del af en mere proaktiv tilgang til at bremse deres adfærd, anbefaler ny University of Sussex Business School-ledet forskning.

Onlinetrolde svælger i antallet af opstemmer, likes og deler deres dårlige opførsel, hvilket validerer deres handlinger, beskriver den nye forskning fra akademikere ved University of Sussex Business School og University of Canterbury Business School, New Zealand.

Forskerne anbefaler også at demonetisere trolling-indhold ved at markere trolling-indhold som reklameuvenligt som en anden metode til at begrænse den berømmelse, som trolde higer efter fra deres handlinger.

Undersøgelsen, offentliggjort i dag i Journal of Interactive Marketing , foreslår, at sociale medieplatforme kan dæmme op for anti-social onlineadfærd ved at tackle troldes adfærd direkte.

Forslagene omfatter platforme, der introducerer troll-badges, der markerer anti-sociale onlinebrugere til potentielle mål, og for brands på sociale mediefirmaer for ikke kun at øge antallet af regulatorer, de ansætter, men også give en klar indikation til potentielle trolde, at en bestemt kanal overvåges aktivt og at sanktioner for trolling anvendes hurtigt.

Men forskningen peger på, at da trollingadfærd er svær at håndtere, vil udelukkende fokus på at lukke trolde sandsynligvis kun være en midlertidig løsning. I stedet hævder forskerne, at styring af de socio-tekniske netværk, der tillader og fodrer trolling dårlig opførsel, og i særdeleshed styring af publikum og deres reaktioner på trolling, som trolde opsøger og fodrer med, er en mere effektiv mulighed for at begrænse dens virkning.

Dr. Maja Golf-Papez, underviser i marketing ved University of Sussex Business School, sagde:"For at bryde de netværk, inden for hvilke trolling eksisterer og trives, bør online community managers og platforme udvikle og anvende handlinger, der ikke utilsigtet understøtter trolling ved at fejre det, at booste det, lette det eller normalisere det.

"Selvom det måske ikke er muligt at eliminere trolling helt, er vores forskning den første af sin slags, der tyder på, at nogle mærker og online-fællesskaber kan stræbe efter at opmuntre trolling i forventning om positive bivirkninger såsom øget trafik til deres samfund. Undersøgelsen er også unik. in highlighting how mischief-making consumer behavior such as trolling may be exacerbated by the efforts to manage them.

"Managers of online brand communities should not ignore trolling and other similar misbehaviours completely, as this inaction violates the expectations of rule-abiding consumers that marketers will address these misbehaviours and could impact brands adversely. However, the way that some brands engage with trolls only encourages more trolls to target them.

"To develop effective managing strategies in how a company responds to trolling we need understand what drives this type of misbehavior."

The study employed actor-network theory to investigate five different cases of trolling; playful trolling; old-fashioned trolling; shock trolling; online pranking and raiding; and fake customer-service trolling.

The research, involving 330 hours of observation of trolling and interviews with perpetrators of trolling behavior, specifically looked at trolling in consumption-related settings. Such trolling includes impolitely replying to disappointed customers under fake customer service accounts; posting irrelevant product reviews, giving false and endangering information about products/services to other consumers and prank-calling businesses.

The study reveals how some trolls attract significant audiences to their behavior. One study participant, who targeted other players in live streamed multiplayer online games, gained up to 1.5m views for his trolling videos.

The research also uncovered that some trolls were making money off their actions with fans donating money after they shared their trolling content on membership platforms such as Patreon. Income was also derived from adverts YouTube placed within a troll's video and from collaborations with businesses who were actually asking to be trolled.

The researchers differentiate trolls from cyberbullies, who intend to inflict harm or discomfort intentionally and repeatedly to a predefined target, and consumer brand saboteurs, hostile aggressors who choose activities that will supposedly cause harm to a predefined brand. They defined trolls' intentions as less straightforward, undirected, and fun-seeking but disruptive nonetheless to consumers, employees and brands.

Ekant Veer, Professor of Marketing at the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand, said:"By revealing that misbehaviours such as trolling may be exacerbated by marketers' efforts to manage these misbehaviours, our study adds empirical support to the idea that managing strategies for consumer misbehaviours could be counterproductive. The more we do to control trolling, the worse the problem gets.

"Our conceptual model has practical value, providing guidance to marketers on how trolling and similar mischief-making consumer misbehaviours can be stymied, or, if so wished, bolstered by managing the network of associating actors rather than trying to deter individual trolls within these networks."