Offensive humour on twitter: A sociological research about trolls

The aim of this paper is to reveal the motivation behind the ever-increasing provocative activities of internet trolls on social networks, as well as to contribute to the literature from a sociological perspective. In this context, the research has been carried out in an effort to comprehend the semantic world and the experiences of those who perform offensive humor, specifically on Twitter. Following a comprehensive field observation on Twitter, several internet trolls were reached out for the interview, 12 of which being interviewed eventually. Interviews were carried out either in face to face format, or based on online qualitative research techniques. Following the research, it has been determined that the internet trolls do not see offensive humor as a means of offense and they believe that offensive humor neither spread nor intensify hate speech. It has also been also found out that, there are mainly 3 different types of motivation for producing offensive humor on Twitter: To draw attention, to enlighten the society, and to reflect the hypocrisy. In the conclusion part, a number of suggestions have been put forward so as to minimize the damage caused by internet trolls. Key Words: Troll, troll culture, offensive humor, hate speech, Twitter