TROLL

Stefani Byrd + Wes Eastin

This installation, consisting of a digital traffic message board and hidden performers, comments on the psychological concept of the online disinhibition effect that allows everyday people to express otherwise inhibited behaviors in cyberspace.  What does it say about us, that given the opportunities the web provides of a perceived audience and anonymity that we can so easily transform into altered and ill-mannered versions of ourselves? Why are so many of us engaging in and enjoying this form of identity deception and how does this affect the online space we all share?

The intended effect of the staged troll-like messages is a little “empathy training” for the Flux Night audience. Being put on the receiving end of a staged social practice like “trolling” may help shed light on this behavior by taking it out of the context of the Internet and directing it at us while in public trying to enjoy ourselves.

See Also

Read article in Huffington Post