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Study Shockingly Suggests Internet Trolls May Not Be Very Nice Or Particularly Mentally Healthy In Real Life

from the you-don't-say dept

Fri, Feb 28th 2014 7:39pm — Karl Bode

A new study from the University of Manitoba has shockingly claimed to have found that the Internet trolls we all know or love so well may not be very nice -- or particularly mentally healthy -- individuals in real life. The study tried to explore whether or not Internet trolls fell into the so called Dark Tetrad: Machiavellianism (willingness to manipulate and deceive others), narcissism (egotism and self-obsession), psychopathy (the lack of remorse and empathy), and sadism (pleasure in the suffering of others). The study (mostly survey, really) claims to have found:

"... correlations, sometimes quite significant, between these traits and trolling behavior. What’s more, it also found a relationship between all Dark Tetrad traits (except for narcissism) and the overall time that an individual spent, per day, commenting on the Internet."

It's worth noting that the survey found, by and large, that most people online are perfectly reasonable and decent human beings. At the very least they're just quiet lurkers:

"To be sure, only 5.6 percent of survey respondents actually specified that they enjoyed "trolling." By contrast, 41.3 percent of Internet users were “non-commenters,” meaning they didn’t like engaging online at all. So trolls are, as has often been suspected, a minority of online commenters, and an even smaller minority of overall Internet users."

The study appears to rely heavily on subjects pulled from Amazon's Mechanical Turk, who may not be a good control representative of what constitutes normal behavior, either online or off. The study also appears to be rather heavily reliant on simply asking people if they liked to be jerks on the Internet -- which if I were an Internet troll, I'm not sure I'd answer correctly. Reading their analysis and methodology, it's not clear to me if the researchers did (or could) calculate how anonymity can turn a relatively normal person into a blathering jackass (as this classic Penny Arcade comic illustrates in deep scientific detail).

Is somebody necessarily a sadist offline because anonymity turns them into a jerk when they're online? Isn't it possible that people act worse online because the sense of anonymity gives them the belief they're free from repercussion and can therefore experiment with darker, but not necessarily dominant, aspects of their personality they'd fear to explore offline? Wouldn't that especially be true of children, who may express anger at their lack of power through online rage, but develop into perfectly normal people as they age?

You can dig through the full methodology yourself, assuming you're smart enough, professor. Those shoes make you look fat. I'd also like to point out that the Beatles sucked, Internet Explorer is the vastly superior browser, the RIAA makes a lot of solid points based on sound scientific data, the Comcast merger will help cure cancer and save puppies, and my little sister is much better than you are at this game, bro.

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

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Filed Under: psychology, study, troll, university of manitoba

65 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 28 Feb 2014 @ 7:41pm

Study shockingly suggests that dogs have good hearing
Better than humans even!!!
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Anonymous Coward, 28 Feb 2014 @ 7:50pm

This article is almost what you would call 'troll bait'. I'm sure some mileage could be made off of it in that direction.

I'm not surprised at the amount of people that lurk or the amount that troll by the numbers given. They actually support what you normally see as a slice of net life.
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Anonymous Coward, 28 Feb 2014 @ 8:02pm

The only reason we have a troll problem, is because people keep feeding them.
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Zos (profile), 28 Feb 2014 @ 9:04pm

Boing boing said it best a couple weeks ago-
"scientists say trolls are vicious sadists"
Trolls say "thank you, good sir".

i don't think i'm a sadist, i can barely beat my wife as hard as she prefers, i just enjoy seeing stupid people dringing themselves to stroke over things people say to them on the interwebz.

or herping deserving derps...if i don't make fun of anti vaxxers, creationists, lawyers and other scum...who will?
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Zos (profile), 28 Feb 2014 @ 9:05pm

Re:
bringing* i think. it's late here, i might have over edited myself there.
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droozilla (profile), 28 Feb 2014 @ 9:06pm

tl;dr of all tl;dr
Study shows 'haters gonna hate'.
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jupiterkansas (profile), 28 Feb 2014 @ 9:53pm

All I know is blue has been absent since this study hit the news, so...
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Deluded voter, 28 Feb 2014 @ 9:56pm

Thanks Obama!
Just more evidence of the failure of obamacare. The lies on Benghazi. Muslims. And Jesus. And god. And the bible. And flags. Cuz 'MURICA!
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Greevar (profile), 28 Feb 2014 @ 10:20pm

I guess that means that OOTB must be having a climax when spewing hate in comments.
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Todd Knarr (profile), 1 Mar 2014 @ 12:15am

Character
"Character is what you are in the dark."

If you're a nice person who turns into a flaming jerkwad when you think nobody can know who you are, you're not in fact a nice person. You're just a flaming jerkwad who's good at covering it up because you'd be ashamed for people to know you're a flaming jerkwad. This is why so many "apologies" for incredibly stupid unintentionally-public statements are phrased the way they are: the people who made them aren't actually ashamed to have made the statement, they're just ashamed that their having said it became public knowledge.

NB: everybody has at least a bit of this flaw in them. The key is to just man up and accept this fact. It'll get you a bit more respect, and give you the chance to direct your attitude at targets that've done something to deserve it.
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Someone, 1 Mar 2014 @ 12:57am

Insulting?
You forgot to mention how fat my mamma is!
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FM Hilton, 1 Mar 2014 @ 1:40am

Anonymous is a flaw
There is one problem with the idea that trolls can be totally anonymous on-line, as suggested-there is no true anonymity on the internet any more.

Somewhere, someone has something on you. No matter what anyone says there is no true hiding on-line anymore.

So one can troll all you like. Just be careful of where it is you do it, because karma is a bitch if you cross the wrong line and piss off the wrong person. Your IP can be traced to a physical address. ISPs can track you down.

So be a jerk, narcissistic and savage all you want. Just don't complain when it catches up to you.
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trollerhttp://www.techdirt.com/register.php?nextur, 1 Mar 2014 @ 2:30am

Re:
Seriously i have been caught in a conversation online only to realsie that it is someone trolling me, very frustrating but easily ignored. But then again i can just troll back getting the troll pissed off and upset, a nice game to play actually if i can be bothered to.

I have trolled a few times when people are being stupid about something but only a few times and only when i am pissed of with life in general...saying that i think the last time i trolled someone was years ago...family life being what it is i rarely get time to waste on the internet and when i do i would rather spend it having fun not trolling people.
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trollerhttp://www.techdirt.com/register.php?nextur, 1 Mar 2014 @ 2:42am

Re: Anonymous is a flaw
I remember this one dude being very clever and managing to get me to install a virus on my computer giving him full control..he was crying on the phone when i called him and advised him i would get him blacklisted on every isp in the country, which was only about 4 of them at the time...what pleasure it was to let him know i was monitoring his ip address and had warned all other isp to watch out for him.
yes he had a changing ip address yes he could use encryption software yes he could complain...but at the time i could not monitor him, i was trolling ad in a good way i think.
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Anonymous Coward, 1 Mar 2014 @ 2:58am

Re: Anonymous is a flaw
lol.

Implying everything on the internet is to be taken seriously. Implying just because you take it personally that it is personal. Implying a person will be tracked down because of your butthurt.

The real narcissists are the ones who believe it's all about them. The ones who expect and demand that the world revolves around their butthurt so everyone must act accordingly.
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Anonymous Coward, 1 Mar 2014 @ 3:17am

Pepper spray cop, Little Face Mitt.....etc.......etc....etc...

Trolling is an art. Usually done for fun.

The only real question is....does the target deserve it?
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Anonymous Coward, 1 Mar 2014 @ 4:50am

Re:
Study suggests dogs bark
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PaulT (profile), 1 Mar 2014 @ 5:35am

Re:
"Pepper spray cop, Little Face Mitt.....etc.......etc....etc..."

Erm, you do know that mocking a public figure is not trolling, right? The word means something totally different.
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Nicolas (profile), 1 Mar 2014 @ 5:48am

What
As if there is an agreed upon definition of a troll, or that psychiatrists don�t label everything a mental disorder.
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Anonymous Coward, 1 Mar 2014 @ 7:03am

What kind of trolls are we talkin 'bout?
The old trolls were actually funny, but these days you can call every annoying fucker a troll so it kinda lost its meaning.
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Anonymous Coward, 1 Mar 2014 @ 7:21am

Did the study show how many trolls are cops?
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Anonymous Coward, 1 Mar 2014 @ 7:22am

the study design questions here remind me of hearing about the early days of polling, right after ww2 ended, as corporations turned from the war effort to trying to get back on their feet in the business world.

chrysler had built tanks and who-knows-what through the war years and wanted to hit the ground running when they returned to producing autos.� the survey was a new idea, and chrysler hired one of the polling agencies to find out what kind of car america wanted.� so the agency simply asked people what sort of car they wanted, and sensible, boxsy cars resulted.� check out the '50 plymouth, say.� and the company almost went under, so i was told.

the pollsters didn't give up.� they redesigned the survey and asked people what the neighbor across the street wanted.� long, low, fast, and impressive.� lots of gadgets.� check out the '57 plymouth, say.� saved the company, so i was told.
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Anonymous, 1 Mar 2014 @ 7:52am

Re: Character
My songs know what you did in the dark.
So light 'em up, up, up
Light 'em up, up, up
Light 'em up, up, up...
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Anonymous, 1 Mar 2014 @ 7:58am

Re: Anonymous is a flaw (Am not!)
That underscores the importance of proxies, VPNs, encryption, and so forth. No, nothing is 100% foolproof, but you should do whatever you can. (And if you were fortunate enough to be able to sign up with a small-town ISP under an alias and fake address and pay your monthly bill in cash, that helps too.)
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Anonymous Coward, 1 Mar 2014 @ 8:17am

OR... Are trolls the healthy ones...
And all the whiners who can't take words being thrown at them just a bunch of pussies?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 1 Mar 2014 @ 8:20am

I rolled the fabled Dark Tetrad once in D&D. Sandbagged everybody in my party and took their skills. FTW!
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Anonymous Coward, 1 Mar 2014 @ 8:47am

These researchers are now free to examine the effects, if any, that bringing up or comparing someone's views to those of "nazi germany" has on an internet discussion group.
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Anonymous Coward, 1 Mar 2014 @ 10:07am

Or they could be just NSA or FBI agents in disguise trying to sway public opinion.
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Anonymous Coward, 1 Mar 2014 @ 10:16am

Re: Anonymous is a flaw
What do you mean by "my" ip?

If I was gonna do anything that could bite me in the ass, it'd be done through someone elses ip

But you're probably right as most trolls are idiots
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Zos (profile), 1 Mar 2014 @ 11:37am

Re: Character
i'm an asshole, and i'm ok with that, but i try to only be an asshole to the deserving.
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Anonymous Coward, 1 Mar 2014 @ 11:41am

Re: Re: Anonymous is a flaw
Yeah, and at what datetime was that supposedly "my IP" and what evidence is there in support of this accusation?
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Anonymous Coward, 1 Mar 2014 @ 11:44am

I think the University of Manitoba is trolling.
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DMNTD, 1 Mar 2014 @ 4:12pm

see
They are mostly damaged, statist, bootlicking, cointel-pro fops. So I concur. Whats really sad, is a small percentage actually do it for free.
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Anonymous Coward, 1 Mar 2014 @ 6:57pm

Re: Insulting?
you momma so fat, when she sits around on the internet, she sit's around the internet
Sorry, when I see a slow pitch I have to swing.
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Anonymous Coward, 2 Mar 2014 @ 12:31am

Well, that'd explain average_joe, out_of_the_blue, horse with no name/Just Sayin' and darryl pretty accurately.
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Anonymous Coward, 2 Mar 2014 @ 9:42am

How does this study mesh with Anonymous? That mass of trolls is now doing things such as trying to make life better for the homeless, fighting against rapists, and fighting against child pornographers.
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Anonymous Coward, 2 Mar 2014 @ 3:42pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1eHKf-dMwo
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Anonymous Coward, 2 Mar 2014 @ 4:55pm

Re:
"Is now doing things"? You're kidding, right? That ship sailed long ago; now the most important thing to them is continuing to further their international impression as people who troll other people for laughs.

Sure, they did a couple things that everyone thought was good, but that's largely only because they happened to troll people that a majority of society consider morally reprehensible. Try to suggest that this is what they should be doing, and you'll see the fanboys crawl out of the woodwork, whining that "Anonymous isn't your personal army".

Which is just as well. Nobody wants a personal army whose sole aim is to dox you for laughs, ruin your reputation in any way possible, and harass you just for questioning their methodologies.
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John Fenderson (profile), 2 Mar 2014 @ 5:47pm

Re: Re:
Yes. Essentially, anonymous has appears to have been crushed under the overwhelming weight of their own trolls.
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Anonymous Coward, 2 Mar 2014 @ 9:15pm

Re: Re: Re:
When your methodology is to fuck shit up, then claim that since anyone can be Anonymous they can't be described, accounted for, hold responsible or disagreed with for fucking shit up, everyone is going to look like a nail to be hammered.

So yes, they were their own worst enemy, falling on their own double-edged sword.
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Anonymous Coward, 2 Mar 2014 @ 10:18pm

Shaming pedophiles via aggressive trolling doesn't make the trolls bad people.
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Anonymous Coward, 2 Mar 2014 @ 11:37pm

Re: Re:
i see what you did there
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Rebel Siren, 2 Mar 2014 @ 11:45pm

Internet Trolls
Most internet trolls are actually paid "forum posters" that have been recruited to scour the internet and infiltrate social media. http://rebelsiren.wordpress.com/2014/01/22/dispelling-internet-disinformation-tactics-debunking-the- debunkers/
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Pragmatic, 3 Mar 2014 @ 4:49am

Re:
She certainly is conspicuous by her absence. I think we should stop baiting her, though. I'm loving how the discourse on this site has improved lately. It's nice to see well-argued points being made.
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Anonymous Coward, 3 Mar 2014 @ 4:53am

Re: Re: Re: Re:
You're trolling - right?
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Anonymous Coward, 3 Mar 2014 @ 4:54am

Re: Internet Trolls
Wouldn't those people be referred to as shills?
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Anonymous Coward, 3 Mar 2014 @ 7:30am

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
How is that trolling?
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Anonymous Coward, 3 Mar 2014 @ 10:13am

Re: Re: Character
Throw your hands up

Tell security we gonna tear this club up

GIRL YOU KNOW I LIKE THE WAY YOU SHAKE IT IN DEM JEANS!
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Anonymous Coward, 3 Mar 2014 @ 10:16am

Re:
Why do they call it Invincible's Reins if I can see it?

Why do they call it an Xbox 360? Because you wanna turn around 360 degrees and walk away!
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Ferel (profile), 3 Mar 2014 @ 11:39am

Re: Re:
Man, I still get a kick from those.
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nasch (profile), 3 Mar 2014 @ 3:39pm

my little sister is much better than you are at this game, bro.

Ouch.
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Mar 2014 @ 2:09am

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
It's not trolling if it's not only accurate, but also the exact same thing Anonymous crows with triumph about. "We will fuck you up, and you can't account for all of us because we're Anonymous. We will stymie every attempt you make that even remotely looks like a challenge or disagreement to us fucking you up."

Sounds like someone's a fanboy.
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Mike, 22 Jun 2014 @ 10:46am

This sounds pretty unscientific. How do you define a troll? Does everyone have to think he's a troll, or just a few?

It also seems very self-serving to say "someone made me mad. Therefore he has problems [in real life]". Because wouldn't that make you feel good? To have some dirt IRL next time that troll pops up. Probably not going to happen.
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Anonymous Coward, 25 Aug 2014 @ 12:28am

just because someone disagree with you and you're mad at it doesn't make the person a troll.
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SfcJ, 25 Feb 2015 @ 4:47pm

aWOU
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SfcJ, 25 Feb 2015 @ 4:47pm

aWOU.'"'."]""'
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Cheryl, 17 Nov 2015 @ 1:40am

Why I do it
I can speak only for myself, and I'm only trolling one website right now, but I do it because I've been very hurt. I'm diagnosed with bipolar disorder and while I have meds that control it, something slipped recently and I found myself obsessing over my writing I post online and in such pain that I wasn't getting as much feedback as I had when I keep asking nicely.

The big thing is this: being nice, polite, and sweet didn't get me the attention I'm so desperate for. But you know what does? Being an asshole. Instant success. Because people will always feed the trolls. Now that my little episode or whatever is over, I'm content but I /can't stop/ doing it. It's addictive. And these people I'm going after--reporting their stories and slamming their work with my sockpuppet account when in reality I don't care if they're against guidelines--most of them pissed me off.

They said they were going to check my work out, or did and said "can't wait to read it!" then disappeared and still happily post their work and get /tons/ of praise. It makes me so insanely angry and jealous that it feels so good to finally knock them down a peg. Fucking people always ignore and discard me when I try SO HARD and do EVERYTHING RIGHT.

One girl I reported, then used my real account and expressed my condolences over having been trolled. Bitch. I felt bad that I did it at first, that's why I tried to remedy it, but the next day I kept on trolling.

I know what I'm doing is wrong, but for now I just can't stop.
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Anon, 20 Dec 2015 @ 5:03pm

Re: OR... Are trolls the healthy ones...
It's the trolls who are pussies because they can't grow any balls and say the shit that they post online to their victims' faces. If you side with them, then you're just as much of a pussy as they are.
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Anon, 20 Dec 2015 @ 5:05pm

Re: Why I do it
Just because you're hurt, it doesn't give you the right to antagonize the hell out of other people, especially ones who you don't know.
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Anonymous, 20 Dec 2015 @ 5:08pm

Re: Re: Character
FYI, being an asshole won't get you far in life.
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Anonymous, 20 Dec 2015 @ 5:10pm

Re:
Trolling's not a real art. Instead, it's bullshit that bastards do to innocent people. If you think that it's fun, then you try having the shit trolled out of your ass.
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Anonymous, 20 Dec 2015 @ 5:11pm

Re:
You think that trolls are funny? Bullshit. It's for dumb-asses who have nothing better to do with their lives.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous, 20 Dec 2015 @ 5:12pm

Re:
I don't think so.
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Anonymous, 3 Apr 2017 @ 9:05pm

Study Shockingly Suggests Internet Trolls May Not Be Very Nice Or Particularly Mentally Healthy In Real Life

//
huehuehue
this title is enough to prove this theory wrong :3
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troll hater, 11 Dec 2020 @ 8:48pm

Re:
you're a big fat liar for claimin' that, dickwad.
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