Trolls seek engagement while haters seek only vented aggression

Evidence

Hate messages in public channels are sometimes difficult to distinguish from troll comments – at least at first glance. However, the different intention becomes apparent after a reaction at the latest, because the authors of hate comments usually only try to act out their aggression and then end the contact relatively quickly – at least for the moment. In any case, they are not interested in an exchange of any kind, even if they repeatedly cover the same victim with hate messages. Trolls, on the other hand, try to engage the victim in a discussion precisely through their provocation, so that they can then continue to provoke steadily. A troll also responds to counter-arguments – but for no other purpose than to keep the victim in the discussion. He will therefore also make the introduction provocative rather than repulsive. — Holm Gero Hümmler, Ulrike Schiesser, Fact and Prejudice, 336

Categorization

• DEFINE: Distinguishes trolls from haters by their operative intent — provocation-to-engage versus aggression-outlet.
• XREF: connects to: Trolling is a personality-driven abuse of conversational decorum linked to sadism and psychopathy — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 986

Related

• Trolling is a personality-driven abuse of conversational decorum linked to sadism and psychopathy (similarity 0.87)
• Trolls provoke for pleasure, not to persuade anyone (similarity 0.83)
• Trolling is a situational social role rather than a fixed personality trait. (similarity 0.82)