Trolling in asynchronous computer-mediated communication: From user discussions to academic definitions

Whilst computer-mediated communication (CMC) can benefit users by providing quick and easy communication between those separated by time and space, it can also provide varying degrees of anonymity that may encourage a sense of impunity and freedom from being held accountable for inappropriate online behaviour. As such, CMC is a fertile ground for studying impoliteness, whether it occurs in response to perceived threat (flaming), or as an end in its own right (trolling). Currently, first and secondorder definitions of terms such as im/politeness (Brown and Levinson 1987; Bousfield 2008; Culpeper 2008; Terkourafi 2008), in-civility (Lakoff 2005), rudeness (Beebe 1995, Kienpointner 1997, 2008), and etiquette (Coulmas 1992), are subject to much discussion and debate, yet the CMC phenomenon of trolling is not adequately captured by any of these terms. Following Bousfield (in press), Culpeper (2010) and others, this paper suggests that a definition of trolling should be informed first and foremost by user discussions. Taking examples from a 172-million-word, asynchronous CMC corpus, four interrelated conditions of aggression, deception, disruption, and success are discussed. Finally, a working definition of trolling is presented

Untangling a Web of Lies: Exploring Automated Detection of Deception in Computer-Mediated Communication

Safeguarding organizations against opportunism and severe deception in computer-mediated communication (CMC) presents a major challenge to CIOs and IT managers. New insights into linguistic cues of deception derive from the speech acts innate to CMC. Applying automated text analysis to archival email exchanges in a CMC system as part of a reward program, we assess the ability of word use (micro-level), message development (macro-level), and intertextual exchange cues (meta-level) to detect severe deception by business partners. We empirically assess the predictive ability of our framework using an ordinal multilevel regression model. Results indicate that deceivers minimize the use of referencing and self-deprecation but include more superfluous descriptions and flattery. Deceitful channel partners also over structure their arguments and rapidly mimic the linguistic style of the account manager across dyadic e-mail exchanges. Thanks to its diagnostic value, the proposed framework can support firms’ decision-making and guide compliance monitoring system development

The effects of technology on interpersonal fraud

Fraud has expanded in frequency as e-commerce has become a dominant part of business strategy and found widespread use. Previous research in the Information Systems domain has focused on how the adoption of technology influences behavioral decisions, and previous research in the accounting domain has typically explored why people choose to commit fraud. However, a holistic model of how technology influences a person\u27s decision to commit a criminal act, such as fraud, is underrepresented. This manuscript explores how the characteristics of the technologies being used to facilitate e-commerce transactions affect the complex cognitive and social processes that result in fraud. The fraud triangle is a useful and widely supported representation of the elements necessary for a perpetrator to engage in fraud: a perceived pressure that motivates action, a perceived opportunity to successfully deceive another individual, and the ability to rationalize an act of fraud. By combining extant research in the fields of accounting and information systems, this manuscript incorporates the fraud triangle into a behavioral model that can be used to measure how the capabilities of the technologies being used to facilitate online transactions influence a person\u27s decision-making processes and, ultimately, their choices related to fraudulent behaviors

Why Youth (heart) Social Network Sites: The Role of Networked Publics in Teenage Social Life

Part of the Volume on Youth, Identity, and Digital Media Social network sites like MySpace and Facebook serve as "networked publics." As with unmediated publics like parks and malls, youth use networked publics to gather, socialize with their peers, and make sense of and help build the culture around them. This article examines American youth engagement in networked publics and considers how properties unique to such mediated environments (e.g., persistence, searchability, replicability, and invisible audiences) affect the ways in which youth interact with one another. Ethnographic data is used to analyze how youth recognize these structural properties and find innovative ways of making these systems serve their purposes. Issues like privacy and impression management are explored through the practices of teens and youth participation in social network sites is situated in a historical discussion of youth's freedom and mobility in the United States

The Effects of Media Capabilities on the Rationalization of Online Consumer Fraud

This research develops and tests a model of online consumer fraud to determine how the capabilities of communication technologies affect the rationalization of fraudulent behaviors. The model is based on research about the rationalization of fraud, media capabilities, and computer-mediated deception. This investigation empirically tests this model by analyzing 459 Facebook advertisements and 1,896 surveys completed by university students. The findings indicate that the capabilities provided by communication technologies affect the extent to which media mask cues of deceit and dehumanize others. As a result, some media capabilities increase one’s willingness to engage in fraudulent behaviors while other capabilities deter those actions. Media capabilities that mask cues of deceit and reduce social presence increase the inclination of individuals to rationalize fraudulent activities, while media capabilities that expose cues of deceit and increase social presence deter individuals from rationalizing acts of fraud. Media offering greater capabilities for reprocessability and transmission velocity decrease the inclination to rationalize fraud, whereas greater capabilities for anonymity, rehearsability, and parallelism increase the inclination to rationalize fraud. In contrast, symbol set variety does not appear to significantly affect the inclination to rationalize fraud

Deception Detection in a Computer-Mediated Environment: Gender, Trust, and Training Issues

The Department of Defense is increasingly relying on computer-mediated communications to conduct business. This reliance introduces an amplified vulnerability to strategic information manipulation, or deception. This research draws on communication and deception literature to develop a conceptual model proposing relationships between deception detection abilities in a computer-mediated environment, gender, trust, and training. An experiment was conducted with 119 communications personnel to test the proposed hypotheses. No relationship between gender or trust and deception detection accuracy was found. Partial support was found showing that training improves deception detection accuracy. The most significant finding was that individual’s deception detection abilities deteriorate in lean media environments. The results showed significant differences in deception detection abilities across media types; indicating lower accuracy rates in the lean media environments (i.e. audio and text). This suggests that deception detection is more difficult when the deceptive message is presented in a lean medium such as a text only online chat, than when delivered in richer medium. Future research should be conducted to further explore this finding

A CROSS-CULTURAL COMPARISON OF COMPUTER-MEDIATED DECEPTIVE COMMUNICATION

Although much research into deceptive communication has been conducted in the last several years, little of it has focused on deception outside of a North American context. Similarly, most deceptive research has investigated face-to-face verbal communication and neglected computer-mediated communication modes. This paper describes a study in progress on deceptive computer-mediated communication, looked at across two national cultures, Spain and the U.S. The paper reviews the relevant literature and theory and presents hypotheses and the research design