Research Methods

Gender & Trolling: The Relationship on Twitter

Sharon Bahr, Sadeq Jan, Alexandra Musi & Lauren Spittler

St. Edward’s University

Gender & Trolling on Twitter 2

Introduction

The intrigue of anonymous and fast online interaction has steadily been growing since the

internet became public use in the early nineties. With the advent of the internet, social media

websites became increasingly popular in the twenty-first century. The use of social media has

coined many new phrases, such as “cyber-bully” and “troller”. Through social media, society is

faced with an issue that had previously been confined to face-to-face interaction, “bullying”.

Bullying on the internet has become a pastime for bored children who want to cyber-bully a

person that they know or for bored adults who want to start riots on online discussion forums.

Social media culture is defined by the changing and growing aspects of the internet and the way

that it changes is directly correlated with gender. The way that gender affects social media use in

various social media sites are critical is concluding whether or not cyber-bullying and trolling

practices have gendered specific behaviors.

Through social media people have found easy ways to communicate with people all over

the world, including the people that inspire them. Because of social media, people now have a

direct way to talk to their favorite celebrities, and also to “troll” on the ones the do not have

favorable feelings towards. This study seeks to analyze “trolling” behaviors in tweets directed at

the both male and female celebrities on Twitter and examine the content that is used for each

gender. Based on celebrity perceptions there could be a difference based on gender in how

people “troll” on them through social media.

Literature Review

While social media can be a means to sharing with people online, the lack of face-to-face

communication as well as the anonymity of the Internet has also provided a way for people to


interact with others in a negative way. Cyber bullying has become a problem with the rise of

technology but also the new trend of “trolling”. Many people have personal definitions of the

term, but there have been a few studies to try to establish a more universal definition of the

world. Jenny Arendholz (2013) explains and defines what the term trolling means in relation to

online message boards. She describes it as purposefully misleading somebody online with the

intention of upsetting other people involved in the interaction. Arendolz also calls trolling a

game where the only person aware of the fact that it is going on is the person causing the

disturbance. Though she explains how trolls function within communities on online message

boards, she states that most people who participate in these forums engage with others to find

people with like interests and can find an authentic connection. Trolls do not base their message

on fact but rather use creative means to deceive people within the group.

Claire Hardaker (2010) conducted a study to build an academic definition of the word

trolling. By looking at user definitions of the word Hardaker found four characteristics of

trolling: deception, aggression, disruption, and success. Based off of these characteristics the

working definition suggested in her study is: A troller is a CMC user who constructs the identity

of sincerely wishing to be part of the group in question, including professing, or conveying

pseudo-sincere intentions, but whose real intention(s) is/are to cause disruption and/or to trigger

or exacerbate conflict for the purposes of their own amusement. (p. 237)

This definition allows the term to become more universal and allows for more in-depth

studies of the phenomenon. In a study by Herring, Job-Sluder, Scheckler, and Barab (2002), a

member of an online feminist discussion forum attempted to troll to disrupt the discussion. The

troller was successful in disrupting the conversation for a period of 8 weeks. They found the

success of the troller to be attributed to three definitional criteria:


1. Messages from a sender who appears outwardly sincere.

2. Messages designed to attract predictable responses or flames.

3. Messages that waste a group’s time by provoking futile argument.

Trolling vs. Cyberbullying

They also offer suggestions for preventing trollers from interrupting online communities

including block messages and educating users about troller. The study found that feminist and

other nonmainstream online message boards are vulnerable and there must be a balance of

anonymity for safety and the prevention of disruptive users. Trolling is a particularly recent trend

in online activity but cyber-bullying has been around since the internet’s inception. The terms

trolling and cyber-bullying are so similar that people often times think they mean the same thing

but the terms have some distinct differences. A study by S. Nicol (2012) examined the

difference between the terms cyber-bullying and trolling. Nicol examines the differences

between cyber-bullying and trolling in internet culture, as well as the effect that those actions

have on the victims of each. Nicol (2012) finds that those who troll or cyber bully justify their

actions using freedom of speech but in actuality it is “a direct attack on freedom of expression”

(Fraser). This is particularly useful because it breaks down what the differences between the two

terms are, as they are often thought of as synonymous. Cyber-bullying, according to Nicol, is

when someone repeatedly uses social media to cause distress or harm to someone they know.

Trolling is the act of deliberately trying to start a fight using social media but it is often

anonymous. In order to better understand the act of anonymous and distressing bullying online

Nicol profiles both the bullies and the victims. Oftentimes, he found, the bullies tend to suffer


from low self-esteem, low academic ability or performance, and problems at home. Online

victims of cyber bullying tended to be those who are targets of offline bullying.

Anonymity can offer both positive and negative effect within an online community.

Rosenberry (2011) did a study to analyze if users felt that anonymity helped or hindered online

discussions. He found that participants did find that the discussions were negative and it

disrupted the conversation. But even with those views, 80% of participants were still in favor of

keeping anonymity and viewed it positively. Users claimed that the anonymity allowed the

discussion to be move freely and be livelier. Though anonymity brought about negativity within

the online community, most users find it to allow a better conversation. Anonymity is one of the

greatest factors in the rising trend of trolling but the act of online bullying is directly correlated

with gender. In order to study the effect of gender in cyber-bullying Snell and Englander (2010)

surveyed undergraduate students and examined. In result of the study, they concluded that

female social media users were more inclined to cyber-bullying actions and behaviors.

According to Englander in 2009, “44% percent of Massachusetts schools characterized the

bullying in their school as occurring daily or more often (Englander, 2009). The reason that

females tend to bully in a social media context is because males are frequently involved in

physical forms of bullying while females use a relational method. In a2008 study, Englander

found that most online bullies attributed their behavior to “anger (65%)...a joke(35%)..or for no

reason.”

Gender and Social Media

Recent studies on social media usage confirm that there are differences in the ways that

the two genders express themselves online. Impression management by online means is


differently acquired by males and females. Men and women post different pictures, status, or

tweets on these social media sites in order to save face but in extremely different ways. That

being said, there are many mediums in the social media community. Social media refers to the

various “forms of electronic communications (as Web sites for social networking and

microblogging) through which users create online communities to share information, ideas,

personal messages, and other content” (Webster). Much like trolling, social media is a relatively

new and broad topic. Any site online in which people engage in communication can be seen as a

social media site. Thus, one could say that survey taking, opinion polls, and even online

shopping can be considered a social media practice. In order to test this theory Smith (2008)

conducted a study to examine the correlation between online survey taking and various

demographic factors including gender. Studies showed that trends still exist with regard to who

responds to the surveys, at least with regard to traditional models of survey administration.

Gender online survey wasn’t clear enough. In this study, a record linking technique was

employed to compare the gender of online survey respondents directly to available demographic

data of all members of a sampling frame. The result of this study was that the researchers should

not assume that the response behavior towards the online surveys, and data gathered from online

surveys are free of gender bias.

Bassam (2010) came to a similar conclusion. Gender is an important factor to the

behavior and attitude of online shopping participants on the online community. Very few studies

have shown the differences in online shopping attitude. Empirical testing has shown three

distinct components of online shopping attitude and significant gender difference in all three

components dealing with attitude. The result also has shown that the largest gender difference is

in the cognitive attitude. Representing that female’s value the utility of online shopping is less


than the male. This study is significant because understanding gender behavior online offers

insight into whether if gender determines a different way of trolling online. As in Englander’s

(2009) study, Bassam and Smith regard gender as extremely important to online behavior and

relational and cognitive functions as the basis for their reason of that gendered difference.

Knowing that gender does play a role in online identity, social media sites like MySpace,

Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest all have users who portray their gender in specific ways using

impression management and media.

In order to find gendered practices in online usage Clipson, Wilson, and DeFrene (2012)

examine the differences of gender in social networking practices and attempt to identify gender

specific actions using Facebook, Twitter, and through text. Clipson, Et al. built their research on

a study by Comscore, Inc (2012) which found that female social media users made up 76% of the

online community whereas male user only made up 70%. By use of a class study they attempted

to make online users aware of the various differences in gender online behavior by finding

instances of burnout in men more than women. They quantified this research by a Forbes article

researching the people who use Facebook, which are currently 57% women (Groudreau 2010).

Hence, the fact that women are on social media sites more often than men may simply provide

increased opportunities for them to engage in trolling behaviors.

Since more than half the population of Facebook is comprised of female users, the ways

in which those female users express themselves on the site is different than their male

counterparts. Social websites like Facebook enables users to upload self-created images therefore

it is the interest to see how gender is performed in this area. Rose, Mackey-Kallis, Shyles, et al.

(2012) extended the research on gender differences in impression management. In both

interpersonal communication and social media, to involve gender specific traits that is part of


young men and women’s impression management. Rose, et al. concluded that women and men

post very different pictures on the web. Women tend to post pictures that highlight their beauty,

most likely a close up picture of themselves. Men are more likely to post pictures of themselves

doing an action or a picture of themselves at a place or event. The online social networking site

MySpace has received more hits and more media coverage than any of its social networking

counterparts, including Facebook and Friendster (Stern 2007). This was true in 2007 because it is

one of the most visited sites on the Web due to its features which allows its users to create media

and create identity easily while sharing their interests with other users and to the whole world.

MySpace allows young men and women to upload their pictures and chat with people with

whom they have never met. This article by Stern (2007) is dated but it talks about the use of

online practices by young girls that invite unwanted attention. The problem with online identity

is that it is predominantly anonymous, and unfortunately young girls who find themselves on

social media sites can fall prey to sexual predators. While this issue of sexual promiscuity is not

the focus of the present study, the information is important because it demonstrates how gender

plays a role in online anonymity and how society evaluates that behavior.

The social media site, Twitter, will be our primary source for our present study

specifically because the line between cyber-bullying and trolling is blurred on Twitter. In a

discussion forum when someone trolls they are not directly attacking anyone whereas on Twitter,

a hashtag (#) of a celebrity directly leads to that celebrity seeing whatever comment was said

about them. If celebrities are public commodities can directly attacking them still be seen as

cyber-bullying and how does gender play a part in this? Armstrong and Gao (2011) examined

how media platform, coverage area and Twitter tweets influenced male and female mentions in

news stories. They found that there was a positive relationship between male and female


portrayals in tweets and also in news content. Apparently male mentions had a greater chance to

appear in national news stories than specific regions and more frequently than female mentions

in print media. Overall, based on their findings, Armstrong and Gao found that Twitter is more

male skewed yet there are more women and men using Twitter and both male and female tweet

at the same rate. They found were that more tweets emphasizing men will become increasingly

male-skewed, providing less space for female perspectives and will therefore not attract more

female followers.

David John (2012) examines Twitter and Facebook, however, the information that will be

used is mainly related to Twitter. The authors examined how Twitter is being used and for what

purpose. The usage of both of these mediums is important to understand in order to conduct the

research about how men and women represent themselves on Twitter. The results showed that

individuals who use Twitter for informational purposes and these people are typically older and

do not necessarily want to socialize. Also, they found that information from Facebook may be

obtained socially (by asking other users), but the information sought on Twitter might be more

cognitively based, such as academic or political information that you would need to read the

source materials, and links are often ‘tweeted’. Equally, the correlations with conscientiousness

showed that informational use of Twitter may be goal-directed, maybe seeking information

relevant to work or study; then for Facebook, information seeking may be the manifestation of

procrastination.

The way that the genders use social media is also influenced by their proclivity for

celebrity entertainment. Twitter, our main social media of focus, is a site that allows fans to

follow celebrities and get a glimpse of their everyday lives. James (2011) discussed the dynamic

between celebrities and their followers. If the fans engage in relationships with each other based


on ethics of care, the relationship between celebrity and fan is best conceived of as rule-bound.

James then goes into relating this to what Kant would call an inherently mutually usury

relationship between celebrity and fan. According to this article the fan is arguably using the

celebrity for purposes of fantasizing or as a hobby. The celebrity, on the other hand, uses the fans

as a means for income, popularity, visibility and ‘buzz’. The article goes further into this

relationship between fan and celebrity by even giving examples of common tweets.

Lin, Han, Jonathon and Fang (2012) identified and analyzed five major personality traits,

which were extraversion, agreeableness, openness, and neuroticism were associated with specific

linguistic markers, suggesting that personality manifests in microblogs. One of their findings is

especially relevant to the present study. Specifically, the authors found that a possible

explanation of the observed personality perception results is that microblogging affects the

expression of extraversion, openness, and conscientiousness. For example, Twitter encourages

people to disclose their inner feelings and share their social activities with others, meaning that

all users will appear extraverted to some extent. Similarly, most people tend to tweet about their

new experiences or discoveries, giving others the impression that they are open to new

experiences. The study sheds light on how personality is manifested in microblogs, and offers an

example of utilizing social media for personality and language research.

Gender effects behavior on online mediums such as Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter in

various ways. Relational and cognitive behaviors in women are one of the main reasons that

women are more inclined to use social media. Because of this, we can hypothesize that women

are the main culprit in trolling activities because they are the more likely candidate to be online

users. However, reports of online behaviors differ from person to person so subjectivity must be

used in further studies. Trolling on social media sites also varies from site to site so the


correlation between gender, anonymity, and trolling will most likely be found on the social

media site, Twitter.

Research Questions and Hypothesis

Our study will focus on “trolling” behaviors on celebrities on twitter. Our research

questions will be:

RQ1: What content is used in “trolling” on female celebrities on Twitter?

RQ2: What content is used in “trolling” on male celebrities on Twitter?

We propose the following hypothesis:

H1: Female celebrities will have more cases of “trolls” that comment on appearance, personality,

and relationships

Methods

The evaluation of tweets from trollers by four chosen celebrities, Rihanna, Taylor Swift, Justin

Bieber and Kanye, were examined in this study. These four celebrities were chosen based on a

discussion the researchers had about who is a controversial celebrity.These controversial

celebrities are both widely discussed and critiqued and are some of the most followed people on

Twitter.

Rihanna is a celebrity frequently seen in the media. Her tumultuous relationship with fellow

artist Chris Brown, who previously assaulted her in 2009, makes her a target for gossip and

victim blaming. Also, Rihanna is looked at for her daring and provocative fashion choices that

can expose a lot of her body. Along with her fashion choices Rihanna has a very successful

singing career and is known for her performances.


Rihanna currently has over 29 million Twitter followers.

Taylor Swift has been discussed regularly in the media and mainly for the reason of who she has

dated/currently dating. Swift is also seen as a fashionable celebrity and her taste in fashion is

often talked about. Her songs and performances are known to be about a certain past boyfriends

she has mingled with, has proved to be fodder for those who hate on her. Swift’s singing career

has proved to be successful and her other brands she has been developing makes her that much

more exposed to the public.

Taylor Swift currently has over 26 million Twitter followers.

Justin Bieber has been known to have a large fan following and became an overnight sensation

after being discovered on YouTube. His singing career has been very successful and his fans

even have a special name “Beliebers” and are proud to be known as obsessive Justin Bieber

followers. With all these diehard fans does come negative fans as well. He is currently on world

wide tour and his singing performances and erratic behavior is always being discussed. Also, in

the media, fairly recently,he and actress Selena Gomez, broke up and are no longer in a romantic

relationship. Bieber has many brands that he continues to release (tracks, perfumes ect.) and

continues to be talked about by many.

Justin Bieber currently has over 37 million Twitter followers and a good amount of

Twitter fan/news pages solely created about Bieber.

Kanye West is notorious for making controversial statements and always seems to be in and out

of the media for various reasons. Kanye is a successful rapper who is known for his entertaining

performances on and off the stage. His outrageous behavior and relationship with reality

television star Kim Kardashian has made him a target for various trollers. He and Kim are


expecting their first child together so this has caused Kanye to be even more exposed to the

public and talked about.

Kanye West has over 9 million Twitter followers.

Considering all of these various aspects about the celebrities has made them key targets for

trollers.

According to an article written by Sarah Nicol, “Trolling is deliberately trying to distress

someone online but usually just to disrupt and often anonymously” (Nicol, 3). This purposeful

act of making hurtful remarks can be focused on different attributes associated to that celebrity

and can attack different aspects of that person’s character. Tweets were collected by searching

for the celebrity's name in the search browser on Twitter, and by looking at the responses to the

content that the celebrities posted themselves. The 400 tweets that were examined, 100 tweets

per celebrity, were broken down into six different categories in order to identify what the trollers

are tweeting about when harassing the celebrities.

Appearance(1) was the first category selected includes tweets focused on the celebrities

looks, weight, style ect. Personality(2) was another category that is associated with tweets that

are centered around the celebrities character traits. Performance(3) when tweets reference certain

concerts, tv appearances, performance in other parts of their life such as a brand they just

released ect. Talent(4) this category focuses on trollers tweeting about the celebrities ability to be

the artist that they are whether that is in the music, fashion, or business realm ect.

Relationships(5) is when the tweets discuss that celebrity along with their significant other, or

relationship with the celebrity has with other people. Other(6) this is where the troller just says

hurtful remarks without any cause at all. An example of this would be, “I hate Kanye,” with no


specific reasoning given. Some tweets have overlap, so a certain tweet might be counted for two

or more categories depending on the context of the tweet.

Results and outcomes should be examined noting that these tweets are about four specific

celebrities that were identified in one way or another as controversial. Also, there were 100

tweets examined from each of the celebrities and therefore these limitations need to be

considered and that this is a single case study.


Works Cited

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Research Methods