Read the following passage and answer the THREE questions that follow.
Disparate as these targets might initially appear, there is a through line in the trolls’ targeting practices: the concept of exploitability. Trolls believe that nothing should be taken seriously, and therefore regard public displays of sentimentality, political conviction, and/or ideological rigidity as a call to trolling arms. In this way, lulz functions as a pushback against any and all forms of attachment, a highly ironic stance given how attached trolls are to the pursuit of lulz.
The final marker of trolling is the trolls’ insistence on and celebration of anonymity. The ability to obscure one’ s offline identity has a number of immediate behavioral implications. Most obviously, anonymity allows trolls to engage in behaviors they would never replicate in professional or otherwise public settings, either because the specific behaviors would be considered socially unacceptable, or because the trolls’ online persona would clash with their offline circumstances — for example, if the troll in question were a schoolteacher or nurse. Even if the person behind the troll avoided explicitly bigoted speech or behavior, his or her extracurricular interests would likely upset or merely baffle family members and coworkers, further reinforcing the importance, perhaps even necessity, of keeping one’ s real-life identity under wraps.
Conversely, successful trolling is often dependent on the target’s lack of anonymity, or at least their willingness to disclose real-life attachments, interests, and vulnerabilities. This, according to the troll, is grounds for immediate trolling, since in the trolls’ minds, the Internet is — at least should be — an attachment-free zone. The trolling mantra “Nothing should be taken seriously” suggests as much, and functions both as a rallying cry and post hoc justification for trollish behavior. Trolls believe that, by wearing their hearts (or political affiliations, or sexual preferences, or other aspects of identity) on their sleeves, their targets are asking to be taught a lesson. Trolling is thus framed by trolls in explicitly pedagogical terms. Maybe next time, trolls argue, the target won’ t be so stupid. Maybe next time they won’ t be such obvious trollbait. In this way, trolls are — at least in their own minds — doing their targets a favor.
Based on the passage, what does the author BEST convey by the statement, “trolls are — at least in their own minds — doing their targets a favor?”
Solution
In the final paragraph, the author writes that trolls frame their trolling explicitly in pedagogical terms (perhaps trying to 'teach' their victim the lesson that the internet is more of an 'attachment-free' zone than a place to disclose real-life attachments, interests, and vulnerabilities). The author says that trolls, in their own minds, understand this as a favour to the victim, causing the victim a sense of understanding that he or she perhaps did not have.
Option E captures this best: "trolls scare away their victims from being themselves ever again online," furthering their ideological stance that the internet is a place for anonymity. Option A is slightly broader than what the discussions in the passage intend to convey. The 'social conditioning' mentioned is not the same as 'internet conditioning' that the passage largely implies. Option B portrays the pursuit trolls engage in as largely positive, which the author would not agree with. Option C says that trolls make their targets resilient to any kind of bullying, which is false, as this is something only the trolls themselves believe. Option D is incorrect for the same reason as option B. Option E remains the correct answer.
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