Under the Bridge and Under their Skin - Griefers and Rage-Baiters
Unmasking and Outwitting the Internet's Malignant Trolls: The Ego Avengers
Did you know that 1 in 4 people have experienced severe online abuse?
Not just a snarky comment or a casual jab, but targeted, relentless attacks that turn vibrant digital spaces into hostile psychological minefields. Welcome back to Troll Town, where the internet’s most malevolent inhabitants lurk, eager to ruin your day, disrupt communities, and thrive on your misery.
In our previous journey through Troll Town, we explored its outskirts, where the more benign trolls roam, those who provoke mild irritation and frustration but rarely cause lasting harm. Now, in this two-part article, part of a broader exploration of the continuum of sadism, we head into the dark heart of Troll Town to expose the truly malignant trolls: Part 1 will confront Griefers and Rage-Baiters; Part 2 will take on Concern Trolls and Sealions.
Imagine this: You’re excited to share your love for a new hobby, a favourite movie, or a heartfelt experience online. Seconds later, your enthusiasm is crushed by a barrage of insults and ridicule. Or think of a mental health support group, a supposed safe space, suddenly overrun by provocateurs, turning the sanctuary into a warzone. This isn’t just annoying; it’s deeply harmful, contributing to anxiety, depression, and even PTSD-like symptoms.
So, why do they do it? What do they gain?
The Anatomy of a Troll: Understanding Sadistic Supplies
Trolls crave what I call "sadistic supplies", the emotional reactions such as frustration, anger, shame, and fear that they strive to provoke in others. Drawing on concepts from the psychological research on sadistic behaviour and trolling, as well as my own online observations, I've found that these responses are their lifeblood, fuelling their disruptive actions. Think of it as their twisted version of "likes" and "shares." The more intense your reaction, the bigger their thrill. Every flustered reply and outburst of rage is a jackpot for them.
But here's the kicker: understanding the specific "sadistic supplies" a troll seeks is your superpower. By recognising the type of troll you're dealing with, you can strategically cut off their supplies and reclaim your peace of mind without losing your voice or your dignity. By doing so, you not only protect yourself but also diminish their influence. You're about to level up and become a digital Trollbuster, armed with knowledge and wit. So let's strap on your psychological proton pack.
Outwitting the Ego Avengers: Griefers and Rage-Baiters
Griefers: The Chaos Gremlins
Favourite Dish: Mild annoyance and frustration. Every sigh, every eye roll is a five-star meal for them.
Griefers thrive on low-level disruption, embodying Millon's Tyrannical Sadists who want to control and frustrate others, with a twist of Explosive Sadism to enjoy the chaos they create. Unlike their cousins, Rage-Baiters, who aim for outright anger, Griefers are content with constant, low-grade annoyance.
You'll find Griefers less in conversations and more in gaming environments. They seek extended low-level frustration where their targets can't easily escape. Their ultimate prize? Making you rage-quit. By forcing you to leave the game, they win twice: first by ruining your experience, and second by making you forfeit. This is why they join games not to win, but to make sure no one else can enjoy playing.
In Action: Think of Griefers like Eric Cartman from South Park—always looking for a way to provoke, disrupt, and make everyone else miserable. They use tactics like roof-camping (hiding in hard-to-reach spots to kill players as they spawn) or spawn-camping (waiting near spawn points to eliminate players immediately). In cooperative settings, they delight in sabotaging their own team's efforts: blocking paths, giving away positions, or deliberately losing objectives. In competitive scenarios, they might use cheats or hacks, savouring every frustrated reaction they provoke.
Now that we’ve seen how Griefers create chaos, let’s look at how you can outsmart them.
Combat Techniques for Griefers:
Griefers want you to react—they feed off your frustration. Here’s how to deny them their sadistic supply:
Humorous Deflection: Griefers want to control and frustrate you, but humour signals that they’re not in control. By laughing at their attempts, you deny them the emotional reaction they seek, weakening their sense of power.
Adaptive Resistance: Instead of directly confronting their behaviour, adjust your strategy to minimize their impact. If they block paths or sabotage objectives, find alternative routes or roles that render their efforts ineffective. This denies them the satisfaction of causing frustration.
Limit Engagement: Recognise their goal is to provoke and frustrate, not to win. Mute, block, or report to remove their access to the attention they crave, cutting off their sadistic supply. To all the active admins and moderators who work tirelessly to keep our online spaces safe, fun and supportive, a big thanks!
With Griefers handled, it’s time to look at their more aggressive cousins, the Rage-Baiters, and how you can outwit their provocations.
Rage-Baiters: The Emotional Arsonists
Favourite Dish: Anger and outrage. Your caps-lock RANT is their gourmet dinner.
Rage-Baiters are the more intense cousins of Griefers. They embody Millon's Explosive Sadists who seek to provoke extreme emotional reactions and Tyrannical Sadists who dominate discussions through outrage. While Griefers aim for mild irritation, Rage-Baiters want to light a fire, they thrive on heated arguments and emotional explosions.
In Action: Think of Rage-Baiters like Cersei Lannister from Game of Thrones, strategically ruthless and always ready to ignite a conflict to assert dominance. They jump into online conversations with inflammatory statements designed to provoke strong emotional reactions. They often target sensitive subjects like politics, religion, or personal beliefs to push their targets to the brink and provoke heated arguments that spiral into chaos.
Imagine an X/Twitter thread on climate change. A Rage-Baiter enters with, “All climate activists are hypocrites! Why don’t you all just go back to your private jets and vegan lattes?” It’s a statement designed not just to disagree but to demean, provoke anger, and derail constructive dialogue.
Now that we know what makes Rage-Baiters tick, let’s look at how you can shut them down.
Combat Techniques for Rage-Baiters:
Rage-Baiters want your anger. Here is how to deprive them:
Limit Engagement: Recognise their goal is to provoke anger to feel powerful when they are often anything but. Knowing this often takes the heat out of that first jibe. Mute, block, or report to remove their access to the attention they crave, cutting off their sadistic supply, although reporting seems kind of pointless on some platforms nowadays. Looking at you X/Twitter.
Humorous Deflection: Since Rage-Baiters feed on anger, making a joke out of their provocations turns their power play into a punchline. This response frustrates their need to be taken seriously and strips them of their intended dominance.
Expose Their Insecurity: Rage-Baiters often project their anxieties onto others. Pointing this out flips their script and challenges their self-perceived superiority, making them feel exposed and off-balance.
While Griefers and Rage-Baiters are some of the most common trolls you’ll encounter, they bring unique challenges to the table. Let’s explore a few specific scenarios and how you can respond.
Specific Challenges and How to Counter Them
1. Projected Insecurities
Rage-Baiters frequently attack perceived weaknesses to provoke a defensive reaction. For example, they might mock someone’s interest in yoga as "unmanly" or "weak." The goal? To stir up insecurity and anger, feeding their need for negative attention.
Humorous Deflection: Lightly mock their attempts to provoke, showing it falls flat.
Example: "Yoga? Sure, I’ll save a mat for you. It’s great for flexibility—and might help you relax."
Highlight Absurdity: Exaggerate their insult to an absurd level to highlight its ridiculousness.
Example: “Absolutely! Signing up for yoga, aromatherapy, and mani-pedis—why not do it all?”
Expose Their Insecurity: Point out that their comments reveal their own fears or anxieties.
Example: "You seem pretty worked up about who’s ‘manly.’ I’m secure about my masculinity. But I suspect someone else might not be."
2. Delusions of Future Vindication
When Rage-Baiters feel they're losing control, they often retreat into fantasies where they are ultimately proven right, and their opponents are humiliated or punished. This is common among groups like anti-vaxxers and ‘gender-critical’ people, who imagine future scenarios where they are vindicated, and their critics are prosecuted or even executed. These scenarios serve as a psychological safety net, protecting them from feeling weak or inadequate.
Highlight Absurdity: Use humour to treat their imagined scenario as a joke and emphasise its unrealistic nature.
Example: “Oh, tribunals? Should I bring snacks, or is it BYO popcorn?And let me know when this fictional drama gets a Netflix deal.”
Meta-Trolling with Awareness: Show you’re aware of their tactics and mock their attempts to provoke.
Example: “Ah, the classic ‘I’ll be proven right when you’re all in chains’ fantasy. I love a good sequel—what’s this one called?”
Name the Defence: Expose the psychological tactic they’re using to distract from their lack of substance and relish sadistic fantasies.
Example: "Ah, you’re fantasising about a future where you’re vindicated and those who challenge you are punished—all to distract from your lack of evidence or good arguments right now and to relish the idea of my suffering."
Analysing the Shift Between Tactics
When Rage-Baiters move from direct insults to fantasies of future vindication, it’s a clear sign of frustration. They’re not getting the “sadistic supply” they need in the present, so they switch to imagining a future where they’re back in control.
Recognizing these shifts keeps you one step ahead. If they start predicting apocalyptic retributions, they're feeling deflated and reaching for grandiose revenge. This is your cue to counter that too, denying them the reactions they crave and reinforcing their sense of failure.
By mastering these techniques, you cut off the sadistic supplies that Griefers and Rage-Baiters depend on, weakening their influence and diminishing their impact.
A Note on Big-Time Rage-Baiters
While most Rage-Baiters are small potatoes trolls, some operate on a much larger and more dangerous scale. These individuals, both male and female, often start with explosive provocations, aiming to trigger outrage and public backlash to whet their appetite for chaos. When they encounter any resistance from someone with a profile, they pivot to a more tyrannical approach, using their wealth to force critics into public retractions that everyone knows are false, relishing the domination and humiliation of their targets. Their ultimate thrill comes from wielding their power to intimidate and financially ruin those who dare to expose or challenge them, controlling the narrative while savouring every moment of enforced submission and public disgrace, a sadistic shift from chaos to absolute control with a chaser of humiliation.
Now, dear reader, you may have certain figures notable for fiction, memes, or politics in mind. Given their shared passion for defamation threats, all I can say is, “You might very well think that; I couldn't possibly comment.”
Confronting big-time Rage-Baiters requires collective action. Supporting organisations like Media Matters for America, the Center for Countering Digital Hate, the ACLU, the Southern Poverty Law Center and Countering Hate Speech Aotearoa can help counter their influence. These groups pool resources, provide legal support, and amplify the voices of those targeted, making it harder for wealthy bullies to intimidate any single individual or organization. Crowdfunding legal defence funds and rallying behind those who dare to speak out can also diminish their power and expose their tactics.
Stay Tuned for Part Two
Now that you’ve tackled the aggressive antics of Griefers and Rage-Baiters, in part two, we dive into the subtler yet equally slippery tactics of the Deceptive Duo: Concern Trolls and Sealions. Discover how to expose their hidden agendas and reclaim your online spaces with confidence.
Hi Paul, great little read, I look foward to the next part. This is very helpful for me, thank you😊 I'm sure there's a good crossover into real life skills here too (especially if you didn't have siblings growing up like me😆)