Companies are paying internet "trolls" to answer back to customers in a way the company couldn't without generating controversy, new research has found.
Trolling - the art of getting people angry for the fun of it - has gone from being an annoyance to an industry, or perhaps both.
"Some more risky brands are paying trolls to pose as customer service reps to respond to complaints and questions in a way the brand couldn't or wouldn't usually," says University of Canterbury doctoral student Maja Golf-Papez.
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She spent more than 300 hours hunting trolls in places few internet users dare to go - gaming forums and comment sections on news sites included - to figure out their motivations, techniques and goals.
She found there's a difference between trolls and cyber bullies.
"A troll typically has no intent to cause harm but is trying to provoke a reaction, whereas cyber bullying is targeted with the purpose of causing harm to an individual person."
Ms Golf-Papez herself was targeted by trolls, and many were booted out of the forums where she found them before she could get to know them better.
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She's published the findings of her research in the Journal of Marketing Management. While that may sound like a strange place to read about internet pranksters, she says some have become celebrities in their own right, and are "gaining financial benefits from view rates and advertising space as well as conventional business transactions".
Many have big online followings, and trolling has become a form of entertainment in its own right, she says.
“Her work is already challenging the way trolls are defined and the way in which they are different from cyberbullies or other online negative behaviours.
Academic supervisor and co-author Associate Professor Ekant Veer says Ms Golf-Papez' research has proven not all trolls belong under bridges.
"Her work is already challenging the way trolls are defined and the way in which they are different from cyberbullies or other online negative behaviours.
"The University of Canterbury has provided a place and space for innovative, alternative and often risky research like this, which will mean our researchers will continue to achieve more than in a restrictive system."
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