Trolling is the act of messing about, bullying, or generally being a nuisance, to others online and can be done in several methods. A troll might post a string of swear words to get a post deleted, might attack the creator of a post, or might even leak their address.
But trolling doesn’t have to be mean spirited and can actually be beneficial for both the troll and the creator on platforms such as Tik Tok live where entertainment is the name of the game. These situations allow for trolling to draw in more viewers, provide entertainment and engagement for the audience, and can even be used to grow a following through users checking out the trolls profile.
This is the type of troll I’ll be talking about and sharing the secrets to being great at it. I’ll say now that don’t like mean spirited trolls and condemn anyone who goes out of their way to harm others.
The Role of a Troll
For our purposes, an online troll must avoid harming feelings or directly attacking the creator as well as making anyone uncomfortable. I’ll also throw in a goal of attracting viewers to their own page / brand through clever uses of comedy whilst they’re trolling.
The role of the troll is to entertain, be ridiculously funny through subtle uses of language, and to create some fans. The goal is to make some people laugh, some people confused, and others somewhere in the middle. This works for the creator because it’s entertainment but doesn’t take away from what they’re doing
This is achieved through understanding the basics of why we laugh and how to make others laugh, setting yourself up for mockery, and making points that make logical sense but are random or very niche circumstances.
Understanding the Basics of Why we Laugh
We laugh because our brain released dopamine and a key function for this is when something unexpected happens. Our brains are always trying to predict what will happen next, but this system shuts down when something it couldn’t predict happens. Dopamine is then quickly released to fill the gap (this is why you nervously laugh when you don’t know what to say).
You can create unexpectedness by taking factors of a statement or joke to their logical extremes. For example, if someone was only slightly annoyed over something then you could say they were punching the walls with anger. This is funny because the reaction is not a normal reaction to the stimuli, both when your brain is predicting and socially (which is another factor of comedy) but is along the same logical path of escalation.
This trick is your best friend when you’re trolling because it makes you funny no matter what you’re actually saying. The brain will always release dopamine when something unexpected happens which allows you to set up stories or arguments that you can then subvert expectations from to make people laugh. You cannot be upset and laughing at the same time, which puts you in a likeable position.
How to set Yourself up for Mockery
Part of the charm of effective trolling is not steamrolling over everyone else. This just sets you up as an aggressor and will lead to no one liking you. You need to give the audience something that they can use against you that’s insignificant to what you’re saying but can prop them up. This allows the creator to “even the field” against you which makes both them and their audience laugh and keeps everyone happy.
The best way to do this is to mispronounce words or to use the wrong phrases throughout a conversation. For example, saying “they spoke Asian” instead of “they spoke Japanese”. This is a subtle but effective “slip up” that can be brought up against you to get a laugh but doesn’t stop you from performing your act.
The easiest way to set these up is to think of everything in levels of detail and then rise up those levels whenever you use them. For example, Language – Asia – China – Mandarin. Applying this method to everything you’re talking about allows for you to make logical sense but be slightly flawed which gives the audience something to latch onto. It also works into the unexpected function for dopamine release because everyone will be expecting you to say the correct level.
How to Make Ridiculous Points Sound Logical
Great trolls base all of their points in logic by taking an idea to its logical extreme and developing it from there. The aim of this is to have others, whether the creator or the audience, discussing the point from within the parameters that you’ve set.
For example, if a discussion is about eating meat you could make the point that we have an appendix and can therefore eat grass but then start asking about the legality of going into someone’s garden and eating their grass. You can build on this by bringing in a farmers reaction, who has the legal right to defend their property with firearms, and asking if the homeowner would have the right to assault you with homemade weaponry.
This discussion is completely ridiculous but is grounded in logic and real world counterparts which makes it sensible. Think of it like asking a “what if”. The goal here is to set up a ridiculous situation that makes logical sense and, if you can, ask others what they would do in that situation. Most people will enter into the ridiculousness without realizing it and begin discussing your points.
The secret for doing this effectively is to “jump” from point to point while relating everything back to your original point. For example, if you mention a farmer then quickly pick a stereotype about farmers (such as they all mumble) and relate that back to your original point (“if the homeowner mumbles at me I won’t understand him”). This allows you to pull from almost unlimited sources and keeps things unexpected which creates comedy.
Overview
- The goal of a troll is to bring entertainment value, not to attack or upset others
- Use logical extremes to create talking points that are ridiculous, but others can understand
- Give yourself some flaws that others can use against you to even the playing field
