The Rise of Trolling in Politics

As politicians become increasingly comfortable with social media, they've also begun dabbling in its darker impulses, employing tweets and Facebook posts as bait in a partisan war of words. Yes, trolling—the act of gleefully using the Internet to intentionally provoke or anger someone—is fast becoming a substitute for political discourse in America.

On the bright side, trolling can show off a politician's sense of humor, or at least the humor of an aide authorized to use the politician's sign-on.. The winking sarcasm of tweets or gifs does offer momentary relief from politics' often dreary, C-SPAN-esque excitement. But it's also hard to deny that when elected officials stoop to snide point-scoring, something feels amiss. It's as if they are admitting that cynicism has won the day.