"it's just fun to be a dick online."
Because someone who would go to those lengths to just 'be a dick online' has an underlying psychological problem. They get off on it, and it's not something a healthy society should want to continue.
Because someone who would go to those lengths to just 'be a dick online' has an underlying psychological problem. They get off on it, and it's not something a healthy society should want to continue.
(a) everyone universally fantasizes about nonconformity at one time or another (go ahead, disagree),
(b) almost everyone has too much of a stake in their life to actually follow through on it, so they bottle it up,
(c) a number of hobbies exist to "blow off [that] steam" or otherwise find catharsis, but not everyone finds these,
(d) those who troll like this have found their hobby that works for them and are actually more psychologically healthy than those who have not.
Just a theory. I've known some trolls who are easily among the smartest, sanest people in the world, and who are totally normal in all other aspects of their lives. Some are dear friends. This activity has been described in these terms by more than one of them. Countercultural behavior is practically a rhythm throughout history, and trolling is the Internet's counterculture, which can be mean because of anonymity. Some people go too far with it, yes. Some people go too far with anything, though.
My point is be careful ascribing psychological illness to something you do not understand. That is crazy. Trolls don't care what you think. If you and many others respond by calling them crazy, what are you really saying? Think about it. Appealing to a good and decent society that ought to do something about this menace is pretty strange, too.
I have trolled before. I'm not good at it, but I have. I can vouch for the positive feeling it produces and I've come to terms with what that means about me and my self. This is the thesis of numerous psychological works as well as, say, Fight Club (it's uncanny how well that story fits the big points I hit on, including taking it too far and plurality of self, and I don't think anyone disagrees that Palahniuk was onto something).
False. Trolls derive joy from the grief of others that they have inflicted. That's what trolling is. See also: Sadism
Being a 'Contrarian' is different than trolling, but that takes some mental work to see how it can be constructive rather than simply a knee-jerk habit to elicit a negative response.
You are trying to frame something fundamentally illogical, logically. Trolling just is. It's narcissism at its peak.
Trolling is the opposite of charisma. It's making your point in an extremely childish and negative way instead of educating someone on something and getting them to see your point of view. It's step 1 of persuasion, except most people have moved past this phase subconsciously (as in obviously name calling and acting like a baby won't get you what you want) and those who haven't, are branded as trolls.