Online Trolls Really Are Terrible People, Study Says

Sad news day for that dude who sent me the hilarious "ur hot y feminazi?" message last month, and, indeed, for all people who spend a stupid amount of time online harassing innocent bloggers and telling them to die in fiery rape pits for no apparent reason! According to science, you are a sadistic, Machiavellian psychopath. And I am awesome*.

A recent study on internet behavior found most people who engage in what we would normally consider to be "trolling" exhibit the personality traits of what psychologists call "The Dark Tetrad": narcissism, Machiavellianism, psychopathy and a sadistic personality. If I have learned anything from the excessive amount of crime shows I watch, these people are also pretty likely to become murderers - which means I should probably start absorbing the whole "Don't feed the trolls" mantra as soon as humanly possible. Read more...