Last week after Donald Trump retweeted the video clip of him beating up a person with "CNN" imposed over their face, the user who created the original image posted an apology that I thought was interesting.
https://archive.fo/CAzzg/scr.png"...I was trollng and posting things to get a reaction from the subs on Reddit and never meant any of the hateful things I said in those posts.
( ...)
As time went on it became an addiction as to how far it could go with the posts that were made. This has been an extreme wake up call to always think of how others may think or feel before clicking the submit button..."
I think that they get a feeling of empowerment from getting people riled up. You might be a sad loser who lives in his parents' basement but when you get online and put on your little MAGA cap and post your memes and people get mad at you, you feel powerful all of a sudden. You're not a sad internet troll, you're part of a movement that has everybody scared of you!
I think that the people who function on this level are actually no different from other internet trolls.
-k