In 2013, the U.S. comedian Sam Hyde conned his way into the speakers’ lineup of a TEDx event at Drexel University by posing as a documentary filmmaker who had shadowed female humanitarian aid workers in Mogadishu, Somalia. Appearing on stage in a red track suit and what appeared to be the breastplate of a Roman centurion Halloween costume, he proceeded not to give a presentation but to deliver a rant. His speech jumped from fictitious research projects (teaching “African villagers” to use iPads with Elon Musk) to absurdist predictions of the future (the “neo upper class” will live in giant “pleasure domes”) to jokes about pedophilia and genocide.

To an extent, Hyde’s rant—available on YouTube under the title “2070 Paradigm Shift”—could be described as a parody of a TED Talk, poking fun at the brand’s ideas fetishism, techno-optimism, and self-aggrandizing speakers, among other common criticisms. At the same time, “Paradigm Shift” is an obvious example of trolling: a hard-to-define but easy-to-identify form of provocation that originated on the fringes of the early internet. More specifically, it’s an early example of trolling going mainstream, traveling from obscure message boards to mainstream social and legacy media, conventions, comedy clubs, college campuses, political rallies, and—eventually—the White House. Guests on CNN, the New Yorker, and his own followers have referred to President Donald Trump as the country’s “troll-in-chief” on account of the public outrage he stirs up—and the pleasure he seems to derive from doing so.

In 2013, the U.S. comedian Sam Hyde conned his way into the speakers’ lineup of a TEDx event at Drexel University by posing as a documentary filmmaker who had shadowed female humanitarian aid workers in Mogadishu, Somalia. Appearing on stage in a red track suit and what appeared to be the breastplate of a Roman centurion Halloween costume, he proceeded not to give a presentation but to deliver a rant. His speech jumped from fictitious research projects (teaching “African villagers” to use iPads with Elon Musk) to absurdist predictions of the future (the “neo upper class” will live in giant “pleasure domes”) to jokes about pedophilia and genocide.

To an extent, Hyde’s rant—available on YouTube under the title “2070 Paradigm Shift”—could be described as a parody of a TED Talk, poking fun at the brand’s ideas fetishism, techno-optimism, and self-aggrandizing speakers, among other common criticisms. At the same time, “Paradigm Shift” is an obvious example of trolling: a hard-to-define but easy-to-identify form of provocation that originated on the fringes of the early internet. More specifically, it’s an early example of trolling going mainstream, traveling from obscure message boards to mainstream social and legacy media, conventions, comedy clubs, college campuses, political rallies, and—eventually—the White House. Guests on CNN, the New Yorker, and his own followers have referred to President Donald Trump as the country’s “troll-in-chief” on account of the public outrage he stirs up—and the pleasure he seems to derive from doing so.

Throughout its evolution, trolling has become strongly affiliated with the U.S. right. Hyde, whose sketch comedy show on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim was canceled for attempting to incorporate swastikas, is a prominent figure among the far right, as are other well-known trolls, such as Milo Yiannopoulos, Andrew “weev” Auernheimer, and Nick Fuentes. As long-time vanguards of the MAGA movement and its adjacent cultural currents, their comedic taste and rhetorical style has rubbed off on Trump in particular and, increasingly, on the Republican establishment as a whole, influencing the party’s approach to politics and arguably contributing to its recent electoral successes.

But what is trolling exactly? When and where did it originate? And how did it come to dominate—and transform—contemporary U.S. politics?

An agreed-upon definition of trolling is difficult to come by, not only because it has for some time been used as a catch-all term to describe a variety of antisocial behaviors and controversial or contrarian figures (from Danish filmmaker Lars von Trier to Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Zizek), but also because it can at times resemble other forms of comedy (like satire or lampooning) or public harassment (like pranking or cyberbullying). Phillip Hamilton, a writer and editor at the website Know Your Meme, which tracks internet and social media trends, described trolling to me as “any action or behavior, usually online, performed with the purpose of angering, frustrating, or annoying an individual or a group of people.” Trolling is different from pranking, he explained, insofar as someone who is pranked can still appreciate the joke; someone who is trolled generally cannot. It is also different from cyberbullying because the relationship between troll and trolled need not be overtly antagonistic; many trolls try to win their target’s trust by pretending not to be trolls, so as to better manipulate them. Ultimately, Hamilton said, “The intent is to make the individual lash out and harm themselves and their livelihood for the entertainment of others.”

Trolling is also distinct from other forms of provocative communication, such as satire, performance art, or even Socratic dialogue. (The Greek philosopher, whose surgical questioning annoyed and infuriated his interlocutors , is sometimes referred to as “the original troll.”) “What distinguishes trolling is the sadism behind it,” said Jason Hannan, a professor of writing and communication at the University of Winnipeg. “We can learn from satire, parody, and irony. There’s insight and illumination in Voltaire, Oscar Wilde, and the Onion, and the point of Socratic dialogue is to rethink our most basic convictions with the aim of arriving at a higher understanding.” There is, by contrast, “no educative value to trolling, despite what some self-styled trolls may say. Is there any educative value to Trump’s name-calling or [Florida Gov.] Ron DeSantis sending desperate migrants to Martha’s Vineyard? These stunts, gimmicks, and antics are pure theater for the sake of........

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