Most of the more successful net trolls I know IRL are the types who aren't able to cope with shit IRL too well. I get the feeling some of them do it to compensate for that even if they won't admit it, though I have had one case where one actually brought it up to me on another forum. That was pretty cool though, I ended up scaring and occasionally snotting some of the pricks targeting him locally (University bullies, frat types, more bark than bite generally), he ended up having my back on that site against trolls I'd have no chance against because I'm much better at solving disputes in person than I am in online pissing contests.
Really they're just playing to their strengths, though it's so easy to hide behind an online persona that it's a lot more common to see people go overboard online than off. You target people offline and unless you tie loose ends properly the law'll want to pick a bone with you. You target them online and it's much harder to get found and dealt with.
I've attempted to 'counter-troll' every so often, but I'm really not playing to my strengths by doing so.
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