Over the last decade, research on derogatory communication has focused on ordinary speech contexts and the use of conventional pejoratives, like slurs. However, the use of social media has given rise to a new type of derogatory behavior that theorists have yet to address: internet trolling. Trolls make online utterances aiming to frustrate and offend other internet users. Their ultimate goal is amusement derived from observing a good faith interlocutor engage with their provocative posts. The basis for condemning a pejorative utterance is often taken to be the harm it causes or a defective attitude in the speaker. However, trolling complicates this picture, since trolling utterances are by definition insincere and should be recognizable as such to other trolls. Further, these utterances seem morally questionable even when they cause little to no harm (e.g. when a troll’s utterance fails to secure uptake), and they often do not feature conventional pejoratives. I argue that while the potential for negative effects is relevant to ethical assessment, in general trolling is pro tanto wrong because the troll fails to accord others the proper respect that is their due (independently of whether they harm them). However, this characteristic wrong-making feature is sometimes overridden.

中文翻译：

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我为 Lulz 写了这篇论文：互联网拖钓的伦理

在过去的十年中，对贬义交流的研究主要集中在普通的言语环境和传统贬义词的使用上，如诽谤。然而，社交媒体的使用引发了一种理论家尚未解决的新型贬义行为：互联网拖钓。巨魔发表在线言论旨在挫败和冒犯其他互联网用户。他们的最终目标是通过观察真诚的对话者参与他们的挑衅性帖子而获得乐趣。谴责贬义话语的基础通常被认为是它造成的伤害或说话者有缺陷的态度。然而，拖钓使情况复杂化，因为拖钓的言论根据定义是不真诚的，应该被其他拖钓者识别出来。更多，即使这些言论几乎没有造成任何伤害（例如，当巨魔的言论未能确保被接受时），这些言论在道德上似乎也有问题，而且它们通常没有传统的贬义词。我认为，虽然潜在的负面影响与道德评估有关，但总的来说，拖钓是大错特错的，因为拖钓没有给予他人应有的尊重（与他们是否伤害他们无关）。然而，这种典型的错误制造特征有时会被覆盖。一般来说，巨魔是大错特错的，因为巨魔没有给予他人应有的尊重（无论他们是否伤害了他们）。然而，这种典型的错误制造特征有时会被覆盖。一般来说，巨魔是大错特错的，因为巨魔没有给予他人应有的尊重（无论他们是否伤害了他们）。然而，这种典型的错误制造特征有时会被覆盖。