ABSTRACT. The purpose of this article is to gain a deeper understanding of the moral consequences of online trolling behavior, the peculiarities of the troll space, the effect of socio-cultural and technological settings on online trolling, and the personality features and incentives of persons that get involved in Facebook trolling. The current study has extended past research by elucidating trolls’ capacity to produce meaningful discourse, trolls’ synchronously harmonious and disgraceful link to mainstream culture, the influence of deviant, disruptive, and non-normative conducts on online communities, and social compensations that may stimulate trolling behavior. The results of the current study converge with prior research on trolling as a subcultural practice, the connection between online trolling and mainstream culture, the robust associations between dark personality attributes and socially detrimental and malignant conducts, and motivational aspects that lead people to be absorbed in trolling behaviors on Facebook.

Keywords: online trolling behavior; hostile cyberspace environment; subcultural practice

How to cite: Bratu, Sofia (2017). “The Inexorable Shift Towards an Increasingly Hostile Cyberspace Environment: The Adverse Social Impact of Online Trolling Behavior,” Contemporary Readings in Law and Social Justice 9(2): 88–94.

Received 29 June 2017 • Received in revised form 19 August 2017
Accepted 19 August 2017 • Available online 2 September 2017

doi:10.22381/CRLSJ9220176