TROL(PO)LITICS – AN EXPLANATION TO INTERNET TROLLS: VIRTUAL CONSUMERISM VS. CYBER MARXISM

WIZCRAFT JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE: VOL. II: ISSUE: IV ISSN: WIZCRAFT JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE: VOL. II: ISSUE: IV ISSN: WIZCRAFT JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE: VOL. II: ISSUE: IV ISSN: WIZCRAFT JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE: VOL. II: ISSUE: IV ISSN: 2319-4952 (Print(Print(Print(Print) 89

Online version of the issue is available on www.wjll.wizcraftpublication.com ISSN: 2319-4960 (Online)

TROL(PO)LITICS – AN EXPLANATION TO INTERNET TROLLS: VIRTUAL

CONSUMERISM VS. CYBER MARXISM

Mohammed Mizanur Rashid, Lecturer, Dept. of English, University of Asia Pacific, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Abstract : The rise of the 21st century had seen many new ideas emerge and materialize. The internet is not a

new phenomenon but what we as users do with it, does not seize to perplex us every once in a while. The ‘Troll’

culture is one such corridor that has not seen a good amount of visitors lately and clearly we did not do justice

to it. The amount of happenings and actions in the virtual world aka Cyberspace deserves more attention than it

has received lately because when talking about Cyberspace we are talking about the Americas standing in

Columbus’ boots. My paper briefly introduces this novel culture of ‘trolling’ on the internet and goes further to

provide a detailed study of how this culture functions as a gigantic hypothetical billboard and manufactures

consent in the minds of millions. Paradoxically, the webs of ‘Troll’ culture are so disheveled that the very

culture that works as a site for advertisement and publicity, also facilitates and advocates the principles of

Marxism. My paper also argues that not only does it support those doctrines but thanks to this latest cyber

culture, Marx’s ideas could be more re(alistic/alized) now. And as a product of the overall discussion and

studies, the paper will provide a better understanding about the after-effects of ‘Troll’ culture and ‘Troll’

politics or ‘Trollitics’. Specific images, posters and posts from social networking sites, where they are mostly

put into effect will be analyzed to rationalize and legalize the general understanding.

Key words: Troll-Culture, Cyberspace, Virtual Consumerism, Marxism.

Introduction :

The creatures that were first recorded in Norse

mythology and which (in Norse folklore) were mostly

associated with the Vikings in the early Scandinavian

countries such as Norway and Sweden, are back. Most

of you must be thinking, in a world where we are

almost close to making the first fully functional

human-like Robot, where exactly does the Troll fit in?

Well, it fits exactly where nobody ever thought it

would fit - in cyberspace. This troll, that I am going to

talk about throughout my paper is not necessarily the

descendants of the Jotun and are not humanoid in

form. The trolls I am talking about could be found all

over cyberspace in the world today and are there for a

reason.

I believe by now everyone knows which trolls

I am talking about. My research aims at dissecting the

troll culture that has been very famous among the

mass for the past few years. My intention is to read

and anticipate the trajectory of this culture and also

study the effects it has been having on our society.

Along with evaluating the whole scenario through

some cultural lenses I will be analyzing what effect

they have on the human mind, on the competitive

market and on the greater society at large.

Troll culture is like a fast spreading virus and

this virus is no ordinary virus at all. It is more like a

shape shifting phantom like virus that seems to gobble

down anything that comes its way. And the worst part

is its appeal or charm. It seems to hypnotize people

with its compelling attributes. Since it is so famous,

there are a number of definitions that could be tied up

with troll culture or troll or trolling whatever one calls

it. But there are also some definitions that do not

exactly decorate the precise meaning of trolls. The

definition which is given in Wikipedia is old by more

than a decade as it is from 1999. Although the most

convincing and persuasive definition of trolling was

provided even earlier than that, in 1995 by Judith

Donath. Judging by that, it is obvious that trolls have

been existing among us for a long time. Now, as far as

the question, did they exist before the internet, is

concerned, I would say, yes they did. But only the

ones who used them and the ones who were affected

by them or were concerned about them knew about

their existence. Certainly the troll culture had spread

like a wildfire after it came in touch with internet, but

as far as presence is concerned, I am sure they did

exist.



As I mentioned before, the most intriguing

definition that I found, during all the researching that I

have gone through, is the one Judith Donathi provided

in 1995. That was the very first definition that I could

record throughout the time of my research. There are

basically two parts in the book where she defines

trolling –

Are you familiar with fishing? Trolling is where you

set your fishing lines in the water and then slowly go

back and forth dragging the bait and hoping for a bite.

Trolling on the Net is the same concept – someone

baits a post and then waits for the bite on the line and

then enjoys the ensuing fight. (Donath 45).

Well, many would argue that this definition is

more a description on how trolls toil rather than the

definition. A more concise and short definition is

provided by Cole Strykerii, “Trolling is the act of

agitating or fooling people for fun under false

pretencesiii

.”

But this definition has its very own flaws. The

part of agitating or fooling people is just fine. But my

problem is with the false pretences part. Trollers do

not troll under false pretences all the time. Sometimes

they mean to agitate or whisk the mass people. They

willingly feel like to do what they do. So, since none

of the definitions I have gone through really convey

the meaning that I think, should be conveyed as the

actual sense of trolling, hence I have come up with a

definition myself. I believe this definition will express

the authentic connotation of trolling or the troll culture

itself.

In the simplest of words, trolling is the deed in

whatever way that maybe, of distracting, upsetting,

deceiving or disturbing an individual or a group of

people for the pleasure, amusement or fun of a

different individual or another group of people.

Virtual Consumerism: Advertisment And

Publicity:

How do we define consumerism?

Consumerism is the belief that it is good for people to

spend a lot of money on goods and services. The

Oxford Dictionary terms consumerism as, “the

preoccupation of society with the acquisition of

consumer goods.” Now, from the pages of Facebook

to the walls of 4chan and 9gag, image based trolls and

memes have become very famous nowadays. The

Image-based trolls are arguably the most well-known

trolls that could be found. Now, as we have talked

earlier, it is easy to see how these trolls are used to

demean, humiliate or embarrass one or many by false

representations. This is obviously nothing to be proud

of. But what are the positives that we have? Once we

ask ourselves this question, we slowly start to realise

that the whole troll culture is not completely a waste.

There are many positives that could be taken from it if

someone wanted to. If someone had a problem with a

person or a product and if he decides to ‘troll’ that

person or product then at the same time that person or

product is getting a kind of publicity from all those

who are watching that particular troll. The person or

the product is getting famous. It is not so different

from commercial advertisement. And we also more or

less know that social networking sites such as

Facebook is one big ‘Panopticon’ where everything a

person is doing, is being watched over by someone.

This explains how, advertisements of certain products

or offers pop up on your homepage when you talk

about that product or service with a friend either via

messaging or posting on his wall. Siva K.

Balasubramanianiv pointed out that organisations often

relied on two non-personal communication devices in

order to expose media audiences to product-related

information. The devices are advertisement and

publicityv. The difference between the two devices

could be derived from their very definitions.

Advertising is that type of a communication which is

made to advocate a product or person but the

communications are paid for and which clearly

recognise the sponsors. On the other hand, publicity

signifies messages that are not paid for and which

never recognises the sponsorsvi

. Since the messages

that are transmitted through the images of troll culture,

are done by users for personal pleasure, it could be

understood that they are not paid for it. Since they are

not paid for it, they are not basically advertisements

but publicities. And these publicities on cyberspace

lead us towards another politics called Manufacturing

Consent. When the audience looks at an advertisement

which is paid by the sponsor, they view the

advertisement with scepticism since the advertisement



is paid, and therefore the message content and format

is controlled by the sponsor. On the other hand, when

the message content and format is not controlled by

the sponsor, the sponsor is not identified by the

audience and thus, the message appears credible to

them. This whole scenario aids to the process of

instilling new ideas into the audience’s mind and to

manufacture consent as well.

From Figure 1, it is readily understandable

that, the Publicities which are not sponsored or paid

by the sponsors are subject to more admiration from

the audience because they seemingly think that they

have the freedom to think and their thoughts are not

controlled by the messages of the sponsors. By doing

this they develop a liking for the publicities which in

turn manufacture consent all the same. Since, the ones

who develop trolls are not sponsored by anyone and

they do it for their own pleasure, the messages

transmitted from the images have a trustworthy effect

on the audience. The audience think that they are not

controlled by the advertisements which are driven by

sponsors and that they are free, following their own

will. What they do not realise is that the non-

sponsored publicities are controlling their minds all

the same. They are manufacturing consent all the

same and this is even worse because now, the

audience are not even aware of being mind-controlled.

It is more like the “Empty Gesture”vii

which Zizek had

advocated, which talks about fantasy making people

think that they are given a choice where actually they

are not.

Manufactures Consent

Figure 1: Advertisement VS Publicity and Manufacturing Consent

The publicities which come out through the

ranks of Trolls not only deal with organisations as I

have highlighted above. They provide equal

importance to celebrities as well. Now, we all know

there is a reason for that and the reasons are fairly

simple. Celebrities tend to generate economic value in

one way or another and in order manufacture consent,

this value is important. There are three major ways

through which the celebrities spawn economic value.

As Michael Madow puts it –

First, there is intense demand for information

about the lives and doings of celebrities – for news

stories, gossip items, biographies, interviews and

docudramas. Second, there is a large and increasingly

lucrative market for merchandise (T-shirts, posters,

greeting cards, buttons, party favors, coffee mugs,

school notebooks, dolls and so on) bearing the names,

faces or other identifying characteristics of celebrities,

living or dead. Third, as contemporary advertising

practice amply attests, celebrity enhances the

marketability of a wide array of collateral products

and services.viii

Celebrities also exert as role models for some

people, thus adjusting the characteristics of a certain

celebrity through trolling, could lead to a massive

brain-washing for a certain group of people.

This does not stop there. Relating Naom

Chomsky’s idea of “Engineering Opinion”ix

to the

Advertising

Paid by Sponsor

Message Content and Format

Controlled by Sponsor

Viewed by Audience with

Skepticism

Publicity

Not Paid by Sponsor

Message Content and Format

Not Controlled by Sponsor

Message Seems Credible to

Audience

Audience



attempts of Troll Culture and we get a completely new

politicized phenomenon. Chomsky talks about how

important it is to ‘whip the population’ in order to fix

their thoughts. He gives us the example of the peace

loving people of the United States of America and

tells us that the people do not have any affection for

war but they are forced into thinking about going to

war by ‘Engineering Opinion”. And in order to

engineer opinion the people need to be frightened and

that is exactly what the western media does. They

depict the people of United States as unsafe and under

threat so that they are afraid and are easier to

manipulate, easier to convince about going to war.

This art of manufacturing consent is present in the

images of the different troll pages on the internet.

Almost all the trolls have a message which they

stretch and almost all the messages manufacture some

kind of consent. Let us have a look at the image below

and understand how it manufactures consent –

Figure 2: Troll Images Manufacture Consent

So, this is an image from the famous page

University of Trollogy in the social networking

website Facebook. See how this image exemplifies

and differentiates between the Rap genre songs of

Justin Bieber and Eminem by portraying the reaction

of an infant. The first image of the three shows the

reaction of the child listening to regular rap music.

This image trolls rap music in particular as well

because the expression of the child’s face seems

perplexed. The second image depicts that the child is

in severe torture because he is listening to Justin

Bieber songs, which is again a very stark troll and also

it is creating or manufacturing a consent within the

people that Justin Bieber’s songs are a torment to even

a child, who does not seem to understand the song let

alone grown up people. In reality, the grown up

people seem to literally hate Justin Bieber songs. The

last image shows us the image of the child listening to

Eminem songs and those songs despite being Rap

songs, are creating a gentle and relaxing effect on the

baby. Therefore, when it comes to the ‘trollitics’ of

manufacturing consent this image is viewed by

thousands of people every day on the internet and they

are not only working as publicity garnishes for

Eminem’s songs but also they are engineering a

consensus that Eminem rap songs are better than

Justin Bieber rap songs, while rap songs itself is a

weird (judging by the expression of the child in the

first image) category of music in general.

Techno/Cyber Marxism :

The three major ideas of Marxism has

somehow found its way to Cyberspace through Troll

culture and most interestingly it has been able to fulfil

that part of Marx’s vision which could never be

realised in human society. When it comes to the terms

of Cyberspace, the distinction of class differences are

so transgressed and contravened that they keep

pushing the so-called capitalist ideology into chaos.

Karl Marx promoted that the history of any given

society is the direct consequence of class conflict and

struggle of that very society. Also, the very future of

that very society could be interpreted by studying

these conflicts. He also advocated the idea of

‘Capitalism’ where a small minority of people have

control over a vast amount of people and exploit and

abuse them for their own nourishment. The third idea

of Marx stretched the idea of revolution stating that,

the majority of the ruled had no idea that there was

anything else to do except for following orders. They

were alienated from themselves, from society and

from their surroundings so that they can never raise

their voices against their rulers. A possible solution



for this was given by Marx himself that the labours or

workers should unite against their ruling forces,

creating their own political party if necessary and

snatch away the political and economic power from

the bourgeoisie. According to Marx, this was the only

true liberation for the people who belonged to the

working class.

If we, try to understand this concept of

Marxism under the lenses of Troll culture then we

might have a feeling that most of the ideas have been

realised already in Cyberspace and some of its more

long lasting effects are crawling outside into the real

world as well. Although the whole scenario has a

hyper-real influence in it, we cannot discard the

phenomenon. As pointed out by Karl Marx himself,

we should be studying real men and women and also

real processes and not what has been typically said or

thought about themx and the study of troll culture

indeed has real and living men and women behind

them. Not only Marx, but his deputy Antonio Gramsci

who had talked about elite entrepreneurs who must

have the ability to organise the society in general

when needed, would be more than happy to know that

his ‘organic intellectuals’xi

have finally come into

existence. And if, it is Gramsci’s hegemony that has

been concealing the reality of class struggle between

the working class people and their rulers than the

whole concept of trolling can be seen as a political

weapon which transgresses the typical nature of the

ruler-ruled dyad and its ideology as well.

The next image is basically trolling the

Disney cartoons which are intended for little children.

The cartoons which are shown to the young ones are

responsible for creating an ideology within them since

these cartoons have a tremendous effect on children

and that too in a very early age. So, what exactly does

the cartoon makers want the children to see? How

exactly do they create an ideology within the children

which troll culture later looks to challenge? We will

get all the answers from the troll post image provided

above from 9gag. The cartoon characters created by

Disney such as Aladdin, The Beast from Beauty and

the Beast, Prince Charming, Snow White, Simba,

Hercules, and Peter Pan all seem to be having weird

and bizarre characteristics which create an ideology

within the children. Does this mean that the cartoon

makers do not want the children to be perfect? May

be. Perhaps this is the reason behind some parents not

allowing their children to watch too much cartoon.

Perhaps they know all too well, that too much cartoon

could eventually ruin the future of their child. Even

here, there is a continuous struggle, a tension between

the cartoon makers and the parents.

Figure 3: Trolls Countering Ideology

They could be the representatives of the

dominant class who are trying to create an ideology

for the working class. And if this should be taken as

true, then troll culture is such a weapon as stated

above, which assists in transgressing the boundaries

between the ruler and the ruled and questions the very

pillars that keep the dominant class standing. Even

today, as Marx had prophesied ages ago by providing

the idea of dialectical materialism, the changes in

child cartoons (arguably necessary) must come



resulting from the struggle and constant conflict

between the cartoon making industries and troll

creating agencies. It is important to note, that in

Cyberspace there is little room for class difference and

class conflict. Here every user holds a persona that

hides his or her class identity. Each individual is

placed in a position of the same level as if they were

all wearing Guy Fawkes’xii

mask when coming face to

face. Therefore, the culture of trolling resides in a

space that is free from class discrepancy. Anybody

can troll and make fun of anybody. Not only does one

humiliate another person but also there are instances

when one teaches moral values. So, it could be

supposed that only from a world which is free from

class differences itself, can we hope to eradicate the

class divisions of a society. The political method that

Karl Marx had advocated could now have a different

look, a technological method perhaps where Trollers

could “troll” some sense into the dominant class and

achieve what Marx had called the true liberation of the

working class.

Understanding :

Troll culture has spread through the internet

very rapidly, as I have mentioned before. Their

dissemination mainly happened through the many

social networking sites available for us to surf today.

If someone asks why did the trollers target social

networking sites? Why not other websites? Well the

answer is in the very name ‘social networking’. It is a

place where people drop by and socialize. A whole

network is created for millions and millions of people

to hang out, mingle and entertain themselves. Could

there be a better place for trollers to find a breeding or

feeding ground? I guess everyone will admit that the

answer is no. Whatever, the reason may be

responsible for their creation, the consequences, it has

to be said were not anticipated. The whole culture of

trolling and trollers has taken some unusual and

unexpected turns in the recent past, which I assume

the trollers themselves are not aware of. However, the

turns have been for the good as much as for the bad

and it eventually shows the very ancient notion of

good and evil in something which is created or

controlled by humans. Ultimately, the usage of

cyberspace and the manipulation of social networking

sites via trolls could end up to have a much greater

impact on the minds of future generations than what

we can imagine today. But as is the case in most

situations, every affair which faces the tug of war

between good and evil, could be swapped and

switched for one or the other. Hope that mankind is

old enough and has seen enough to be able to join

sides with the right group.

End Notes :

i. Judith Donath in her book Identity and Deception compared trolling with fishing.

ii. Cole Stryker is a Cyberspace Social Networking Sites expert and famous blogger. He is also the author of

the renowned book Epic Win For Anonymous.

iii. Stryker, C. (2011). Epic Win For Anonymous. New York: Overlook.

iv. Siva K. Balasubramanian is the Associate Professor of Marketing at the College of Business and

Administration, Southern Illinois University.

v. “Beyond Advertising and Publicity: Hybrid Messages and Public Policy Issues.” Siva K.

Balasubramanian.

vi. Cohen 1988.

vii. The Seventh Veil of Slavoj Zizek’s “The Seven Veils of Fantasy”.

viii. “Private Ownership of Public Image – Popular Culture and Publicity Rights.” Michael Madow.

ix. “Engineering Opinion” is a chapter in Naom Chomsky’s Media Control.

x. The German Ideology

xi. Organic Intellectual is an intellectual from a proletariat class whose societal function or intelligence is not

singularly produced from traditional apparatuses of an intelligent society, such as traditional education,

political and media systems that consider their own intelligence to exist outside of a disparate class

structure. Rather, an organic intellectual’s function, work, intelligence and values spring organically from the



conditions of a working-class culture that enables the disparate class structure, and serves the needs of the

dominant group.

xii. From the movie V for Vandetta which is based on a true story.

References :

Adorno, T and Horkheimer, M. "The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception." Dialectic of

Enlightenment. New York, 1993.

Ahluwalia, R, Burnkrant R. E. and Unnava, H. R. "Consumer Response to Negative Publicity: The Moderating Role

of Commitment." Journal of Marketing Research Vol. 37 No. 2. American Marketing Association (2000): 203-214.

Althusser, L. "Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses." Lenin and Philosophy, and Other Essays. London: New

Left Books, 1971. 127-188.

Balasubramanian, S. K. "Beyond Advertising and Publicity: Hybrid Messages and Public Policy Issues." Journal of

Advertising Vol. 23, No. 4 M. E. Sharp (1994): 29-46.

Bengali Memes. Facebook. 13 November 2012 <https://www.facebook.com/BengaliMemesOfficial?fc=0&>.

Bishop, J. "The Psychology of Trolling and Lurking: The Role of Defriending and Gamification for Increasing

Participation in Online Comunities Using Seductive Narratives." Examining the Concepts, Issues and Implications of

Internet Trolling. IGI Global, 2013.

Chomsky, N. Media Control. New York: Seven Stories Press, 1997.

Coleman, E. G. "Phreaks, Hackers and Trolls." The Social Media Reader. New York: New York University Press,

2012. 99-116.

Dawkins, R. The Selfish Gene. Oxford University Press, 1989.

Dhala, A. "Simple Vandals or a Unique Social Movement: A Psycho-Sociological Discourse on Internet Trolls."

Texas: University of Texas School of Sociology, 1999.

Donath, J. "Communities in Cyberspace." Identity and Deception. London, 1999. 45.

Gramsci, A. "The Formation of Intellectuals." The Norton Anthology: Theory And Criticism. W. W. Norton &

Company, Inc, 1933. 1138-1143.

Hebdige, D. "The Function of Subculture." Subculture: The Meaning of Style. London: Methuen, 1979.

Jameson, F. "Postmodern and Consumer Society." The Cultural Turn. London: Verso, 1998. 1-20.

Krappitz, S. "Troll Culture." 2011/2012. Troll Culture. 12 November 2012 <http://wwwwwwwww.at/trolls>.

Madow, M. "Private Ownership of Public Image: Popular Culture and Publicity Rights." California Law Review, Vol.

81, No. 1. California Law Review Inc. (1993): 125+127-240.

Marx, K. "The Greman Ideology." The Norton Anthology: Theory And Criticism. W. W. Norton & Company, 1857.

767-769.

Mattick, P. "Manufacturing Consent." Cineaste, Vol. 20, No. 1 Cineaste Publishers Inc. (1993): 42-43.

McLuhan, M. "The Medium is the Message." Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man. New York: Signet,

1964. 23-35, 63-75.

Sardar, Z and Loon, B. V. Introducing Cultural Studies. Cambridge: Icon Books, 1999.

Schrempp, G. "Taking the Dawkins Challenge, or, the Dark Side of the Meme." Journal Of Folklore Research, Vol.

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Shanahan, K. J. and Hopkins, C. D. "Truths, Half-Truths, and Deception: Percieved Social Responsibility and Intent

to Donate for a Nonprofit Using Implicature, Truth, and Duplicity in Print Advertising." Journal of Advertising, Vol.

36, No. 2, Special Issue on Responsibility in Advertising. M. E. Sharp, Inc. (2007): 33-48.

Stryker, C. Epic Win For Anonymous. New York: Overlook, 2011.

Thabor Chinos. Facebook. 13 November 2012 <http://www.facebook.com/chotkana?ref=ts&fref=ts>.

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Troll Football. Facebook. 13 November 2012 <http://www.facebook.com/Troll.Football?refid=46>.

Zizek, S. "The Seven Veils of Fantasy." The Plague of Fantasies. Verso, 1997.



End Notes :

i Judith Donath in her book Identity and Deception compared trolling with fishing.

ii Cole Stryker is a Cyberspace Social Networking Sites expert and famous blogger. He is also the author of

the renowned book Epic Win For Anonymous. iii Stryker, C. (2011). Epic Win For Anonymous. New York: Overlook.

iv Siva K. Balasubramanian is the Associate Professor of Marketing at the College of Business and

Administration, Southern Illinois University. v “Beyond Advertising and Publicity: Hybrid Messages and Public Policy Issues.” Siva K.

Balasubramanian. vi Cohen 1988.

vii The Seventh Veil of Slavoj Zizek’s “The Seven Veils of Fantasy”.

viii “Private Ownership of Public Image – Popular Culture and Publicity Rights.” Michael Madow.

ix “Engineering Opinion” is a chapter in Naom Chomsky’s Media Control.

x The German Ideology.

xi Organic Intellectual is an intellectual from a proletariat class whose societal function or intelligence is not

singularly produced from traditional apparatuses of an intelligent society, such as traditional education,

political and media systems that consider their own intelligence to exist outside of a disparate class

structure. Rather, an organic intellectual’s function, work, intelligence and values spring organically from

the conditions of a working-class culture that enables the disparate class structure, and serves the needs of the

dominant group. xii

From the movie V for Vandetta which is based on a true story.

References :

Adorno, T and Horkheimer, M. "The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception." Dialectic of

Enlightenment. New York, 1993.

Ahluwalia, R, Burnkrant R. E. and Unnava, H. R. "Consumer Response to Negative Publicity: The Moderating Role

of Commitment." Journal of Marketing Research Vol. 37 No. 2. American Marketing Association (2000): 203-214.

Althusser, L. "Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses." Lenin and Philosophy, and Other Essays. London: New

Left Books, 1971. 127-188.

Balasubramanian, S. K. "Beyond Advertising and Publicity: Hybrid Messages and Public Policy Issues." Journal of

Advertising Vol. 23, No. 4 M. E. Sharp (1994): 29-46.

Bengali Memes. Facebook. 13 November 2012 <https://www.facebook.com/BengaliMemesOfficial?fc=0&>.

Bishop, J. "The Psychology of Trolling and Lurking: The Role of Defriending and Gamification for Increasing

Participation in Online Comunities Using Seductive Narratives." Examining the Concepts, Issues and Implications of

Internet Trolling. IGI Global, 2013.

Chomsky, N. Media Control. New York: Seven Stories Press, 1997.

Coleman, E. G. "Phreaks, Hackers and Trolls." The Social Media Reader. New York: New York University Press,

2012. 99-116.

Dawkins, R. The Selfish Gene. Oxford University Press, 1989.

Dhala, A. "Simple Vandals or a Unique Social Movement: A Psycho-Sociological Discourse on Internet Trolls."

Texas: University of Texas School of Sociology, 1999.

Donath, J. "Communities in Cyberspace." Identity and Deception. London, 1999. 45.

Gramsci, A. "The Formation of Intellectuals." The Norton Anthology: Theory And Criticism. W. W. Norton &

Company, Inc, 1933. 1138-1143.

Hebdige, D. "The Function of Subculture." Subculture: The Meaning of Style. London: Methuen, 1979.

Jameson, F. "Postmodern and Consumer Society." The Cultural Turn. London: Verso, 1998. 1-20.



Krappitz, S. "Troll Culture." 2011/2012. Troll Culture. 12 November 2012 <http://wwwwwwwww.at/trolls>.

Madow, M. "Private Ownership of Public Image: Popular Culture and Publicity Rights." California Law Review, Vol.

81, No. 1. California Law Review Inc. (1993): 125+127-240.

Marx, K. "The Greman Ideology." The Norton Anthology: Theory And Criticism. W. W. Norton & Company, 1857.

767-769.

Mattick, P. "Manufacturing Consent." Cineaste, Vol. 20, No. 1 Cineaste Publishers Inc. (1993): 42-43.

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TROL(PO)LITICS – AN EXPLANATION TO INTERNET TROLLS: VIRTUAL CONSUMERISM VS. CYBER MARXISM

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