Asperger's Syndrome and the Internet Troll

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I've known many Aspies and HF auties in real life, and I've known none that troll online. Most avoid online forums because they dislike the contention and conflict. From personal experience and my study of autism, I do not think, as a norm, that Aspies and auties have conflict-seeking personalities. They can get argumentive over things they feel intensely about - but that's NOT the same as being generally conflict-seeking. If someone with as ASD is conflict-seeking, I would suspect the individual has some other psychological issue that makes them such. Either that, or they have been mis'dx'd as autistic.

Because many trolls are glib - or attempt to be - I am disinclined to think they have an ASD. Glibness is something that most autisitics just don't possess. Sociopaths, yes, but autistics, no.

Since there's the possibilty that trolling behavior might be indicative of someone who IS both glib and conflict-seeking, and these traits are more indicative of a sociopath than an autistic, I'm more inclined to think that they are sociopaths. Sociopaths can also possess the traits you list. I also don't consider sociopaths really "NTs" because they're obviously disturbed in someway that makes them behave contrary to what we ascribed to an NT. In many cases, sociopaths may have impaired neurology (usually a frontal lobe impairment) at the root of their behavior, and that would mean they are not clinically "neurotypical."

Oh my. I had to Google "Troll" to figure out what you were talking about.

Google "flame warriors" and go to the site if you really want to see a comprehensive typology of such folks.

"Rat" prefers to attack with private messages rather than out in the open.

"Innocence Abused" guards her purity jealously and cannot countenance crude language and gets the vapors over frank references to intimate bodily functions. This digital ingénue is a very weak Warrior, and is a favorite target of Enfant Provocateur, Jerk, Troller, and Evil Clown, but Innocence Abused can always count on other Warriors, such as Cyber Sisters, Weenie and Toxic Granny, to come to her defense.

As a forum participant "Jekyll and Hyde" always plays by the rules and is consistently cordial and helpful – a model netizen, until one day he comes completely uncorked and lashes out without warning. His unanticipated thunderbolts can temporarily rout even the sturdiest Warriors, and it often takes some time for his stunned opponents to mount a counter attack.

"Lonely Guy" doesn't get out much, and often his social isolation can drive him to do battle just for the human contact. Compassion dictates that we shouldn't get too upset with his antics. Nonetheless, Lonely Guy can be very fierce. Remember, he has nothing better to do than stew over real or imagined insults.

"Therapist" can be a highly annoying and therefore very effective Warrior. Instead of making a frontal attack, Therapist attempts to shift the focus of the conflict to the combatants' psychological motivations and problems. He will freely speculate about other Warriors' insecurities, personalities and relationships, but he will almost never directly engage the subject of the dispute. CAUTION: Evil Clown, Imposter and Troller often masquerade as Therapist.

"Rebel Without a Clue's" deep seated and infantile hostility to authority motivates his random and seemingly gratuitous attacks on list owners, Admins, Nannies or anyone else who attempts to maintain order and civility in discussion forums. Differing markedly from Rebel Leader, he is unattached to any cause other than petulance for its own sake, and will therefore seldom inspire general insurrection. In his frequent and ineffectual attacks on the established order he will often cite the Bible, or the US Constitution to support incoherent arguments. Rebel Without a Clue NEVER reads forum FAQs , and loudly decries as fascism any enforcement whatsoever of forum rules.

"Pithy Phrase" is a walking compendium of famous quotations and wise adages.

"Fragile Femme" is very needy and insecure and regards the discussion forum as her personal support group, and will lash out when her feelings are not "validated" by the others. Fragile Femme will often refer to the forum participants as her "family" and becomes distraught at disharmony of any kind.

Since human beings are hierarchical creatures each of these these little mafias always have a "Godfather" who is surrounded by a cadre of loyal henchmen. Unlike Rebel Leader, Issues, Furious Typer and other noisy Warriors, Godfather only occasionally deigns to enter into discussions, but when he does everyone listens to him respectfully and his pronouncements have an air of finality. Though Godfather himself never engages in battle, it is commonly understood that his utterances should not be challenged, and when an unsuspecting Newbie or ambitious wannabe mounts a challenge to his authority Godfather’s henchmen viciously silence or drive away the attacker.

"Jerk" is sarcastic, mean, unforgiving and never misses an opportunity to make a cutting remark. Jerk's repulsive personality quickly alienates other Warriors, and after some initial skirmishing he is usually ostracized. (The cartoon picture of Jerk is = funny, too - ephemerella)

A "Swarm" hive is almost impossible to detect. When a hapless victim stumbles on a forum that houses a Swarm and disturbs it with an offending message, the Swarm will erupt and fly at their victim from all directions.

"ALLCAPS" attempts to compensate for his limited rhetorical weaponry through the extravagant use of capitalized words - something netizens refer to as SHOUTING. (The cartoon picture of ALLCAPS is funny, too - ephemerella)

"Netiquette Nazi" is in control and does not tolerate back talk, especially from a sniveling worm like you. She demands the strictest adherence forum protocols and rules of engagement . If you deviate in the slightest you WILL be punished. Even Admin is careful not to attract her ire. (I think I got spanked by a Netiquette enforcer today -- ephemerella)
Warriors often underestimate "Toxic Granny's" fighting abilities. She can be very aggressive, and because of the deference paid to the elderly, not only does Toxic Granny easily attract allies to aid in her defense, but her foes are reluctant to employ their strongest weapons against her.

I admit it. I have been banned from the HGTV Forums like 40 or 50 times over the past 3-ish years. They don't have any forgiveness policy, though, so to get back in I have to create a new e-mail addy and then a new HGTV account. It usually only lasts a couple hours before they find me (via IP addy) and ban me again.
I have been banned from the Home and Garden Entertainment Forums and one other I can't remember.
The only one I troll (in a good way, I think) is the HGTV one.

not the trolls crap again.... Are you guys doing this because of jus4u56 or whatever? Troll or not, if you don't like the way she posts don't read.