Graphicons and Tactics in Satirical Trolling on Tumblr.com

Authors

  • Pnina Fichman Rob Kling Center of Social Informatics, School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering Indiana University Bloomington
  • Ashley R. Dainas Department of Information and Library Science Indiana University Bloomington

Keywords:

trolling, graphicons, trolling tactics, Tumblr, satire

Abstract

 Internet trolling is inherently multimodal, relying on both textual and graphical means of communication (or “graphicons”). We examined how satire and ideological trolls who use graphicons on the microblogging site Tumblr.com, use knowledge of local culture as part of their trolling tactics. Based on a qualitative thematic analysis of 172 trolling posts (that include 284 graphicons), we identified 7 Tumblr satire troll tactics: the lying tactic, the derailment tactic, the parodic exaggeration tactic, the misappropriation of jargon tactic, the straight man (or “comical seriousness”) tactic, the troll reveal tactic, and the politeness tactic. We also found that ideologically extremizing language was the most commonly used outrage tactic and that trolls used graphicons frequently as flame baiting prompts and for tone modification.

Author Biographies

Pnina Fichman, Rob Kling Center of Social Informatics, School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering Indiana University Bloomington

Pnina Fichman  is a professor in the School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering and the director of the Rob Kling Center for Social Informatics. She earned her PhD from the University of North Carolina. Her research in social informatics focuses on the interaction between information and communication technologies and cultural diversity in online communities and virtual teams as well as online deviant behaviors, such as trolling and discrimination; she also studies information intermediation. In addition to her five books, her publications appeared in Information and Management, the Journal of the American Society for Information Science & Technology, the Journal of Information Science, and many other venues. 

Ashley R. Dainas, Department of Information and Library Science Indiana University Bloomington

Ashley Dainas is a fourth year PhD student in the Department of Information and Library Science at Indiana University Bloomington. She is interested in Multimodal Computer-Mediated Communication, Discourse Analysis and Social Media. Her current research focuses on how people use and understand “graphicons” like emoji, images and GIFs in online conversations.

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Published

2019-09-10

Issue

Vol. 13 (2019)

Section

Articles

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