Representations of 'trolls' in mass media communication: a review of media-texts and moral panics relating to 'internet trolling' <s> Audience theory and internet trolling <s> Within the last decade the Internet 'has emerged out of nowhere' (Ba" 2000, back cover) to monopolise much of the domestic time, intellectual interest, and financial resources that had previously been lavished upon film, television, and (specialist console) game consumption, So far, research on the Internet appears to be following a similar evolutionary pattern to research on broadcast media-displacement studies (what have people 'given up' to make time for the Internet?), effects studies (is it addictive, bad, bankrupting, and whyn ratings data, and response to moral panics (Internet gambling and pornography). Arguably, applied research involving Internet partidpants treats users as 'audience/s', Is this a legitimate perspective, however, when members are often content creators as well as consumers? The concept of the active audience recognises that all consumption is also produc. tion but the production of meaning for the individual television audience member differs sign;f. icantly from that which occurs when people engage in interactive exchanges on the Internet, creating content for themselves and others. This paper addresses these issues, suggesting pass;· ble research trajectories. Lelia Green, School of Communications and Multimedia, fdith Cowan University, Perth, Westem Australia. INTRODUCTION This paper interrogates the notion of the Internet audience and its characteristics by examining the relevance of the domestic context, and the relationship of consumption to Internet activity. One focus of the enquiry is the notion of an Internet 'audience', given that much interaction via the Internet concentrates upon content production, as well as upon the production of meaning through the consumption of content created by other people. This dynamiC creates a significant difference between the consumption of traditional broadcast mass media and the activ~ Tr,'satilnft Internet users as 'audiences' <s> BIB001 </s> Representations of 'trolls' in mass media communication: a review of media-texts and moral panics relating to 'internet trolling' <s> Audience theory and internet trolling <s> Seeking to explain the relative rise of perceived "conservative news" and the deterioration of the perceived "liberal media," we presume that ours is a simple economic case of what happens when monopolistic power is lost. Polarization is exuberated, though there is increased democratic participation on the positive side. <s> BIB002
Audience theory is the driving force behind how the media presents itself, for the reason that under free-market conditions, people demand coverage that reinforces their values BIB002 . It has become apparent that those who dislike internet trolls in the UK read The Sun and the Daily Mail as it is those that carry the most articles attacking so-called trolls as abusers. The Sun has been running a campaign to solve the 'problem' of trolling, and is always ready to claim credit to its readers when a development occurs. Existing studies have attempted to inform a theoretical reconsideration of how far audience theory can be applied to internet participants and how far the internet's interactive features make it unlike other mass media BIB001 . The internet seems to make 'uses and gratifications theory' even more present. According to Marketline industry reporting, there are also no switching costs for readers of newspapers, and little stopping a change of subscription save brand loyalty. They point out that the product is, although differentiated, quite replaceable and most readers will substitute happily when their chosen newspaper is unavailable. This indicates the importance to a newspaper or news website building a strong fit for a particular point of view, and in the case of internet trolling there are very clear segments. There are the digital natives, who are annoyed news-sources are 'misusing' the term trolling. There is a group of people looking for a new villain to attack in order to escape their own insecurities. And there are the counter-cultured groups who enjoy identifying as trolls as they know it is seen as deviant by others, making their subversive and transgressive humour that much more enjoyable.