The diminishing effects of trolls  

The trolls we are referring here are those paid internet users who propagate multiple posts and false information in many social media sites with the intention of misleading or promoting advocacies or persons. Google defines them as persons who intentionally antagonize others online by posting inflammatory, irrelevant or offensive comments or other disruptive contents. It may include fake or dubious news sites/services which are usually added in their posts. These trolls may have started in 2010 as they were already in play in the 2012, 2016, and 2020 US presidential elections and in the Brexit referendum in Great Britain in 2016. They are coming from many places in the world as long as there is internet connection, and have become lucrative businesses for some cities in the world. In the Philippines, it had its presence in 2015 leading to the 2016 elections when some candidates used them to influence the elections.

That they are still in play, means that the trolls are still trying to be relevant as influencers. But they are now competing with many other influencers in social media, both legitimate and illegitimate, and it is now a crowded space. Advances and developments in the algorithms of the social media sites have also improved the restrictions on “improper and inappropriate” posts, fake news, and inflammatory postings, that a lot of multiple email addresses, fake news websites, and even specific posts have been deleted, restricted, barred, and delisted. These are on top of the natural pushback by social media users against the blatant posts of the trolls, and the numerous fact checking sites/mechanisms available in the social and main media.

There are also the inherent behavioral and intellectual limitations of trolls. Majority of the paid or even unpaid trolls are in the extremes of society, on the extreme left or the extreme right in ideology and behavior. They are mostly outside the mainstream of society and associate with their own kind of extremism that feeds their views. They lack the broader perspective, education, and access to information of the majority of society. Examples of these were posts during the 2020 US election of Satan-worshipping/child-sacrificing Democrats posted by Trumpers. Or posts about a presidential candidate in the Philippines receiving nonexistent global awards like the greatest president in the universe. Most trolls also lack the intellectual capacity to compose a credible argument that they have to rely on scripts provided by the sponsor. These are repeatedly posted by other paid trolls which makes the posts unbelievable.

Then, there is the moral pitfalls of trolls. In their effort to get multiple reactions, they make totally immoral/amoral posts that generate so much backlash and reactions that are the opposite of what they want to achieve. Posting or attempting to post fake pornographic stories and pictures of the children of a Philippine presidential candidate, will surely be objectionable to most people and voters, and just demonstrate the moral bankruptcy/stupidity of the troll.

Filipinos are among the most online people in the world, especially the overseas Filipinos in many parts of the world. The trolls have underestimated the intellectual and moral capacity and values of the Filipinos. Their Christian upbringing, family orientation, and their sense of fairness, justice, and truth are actually hardwired on most of us without us realizing them. In fact the two- year COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns, with families spending more time together and introspecting on their lives, may have enhanced these values. These are validated by the pushback posts against the trolls and the declining engagements with them. Like many things in life, trolling has reached the point of diminishing returns and will become a minor issue in a few years.