Zoombombing: Understanding We-Intention to Engage in Collective Trolling among Online Community Members through the Social Identity Model of Deindividuation Effects

Abstract

Zoombombing, the disruptive intrusion into video-conference events, has emerged as a destructive consequence resulting from the wide adoption of collaborative technologies. Despite growing attention from various disciplines, Zoombombing remains underexplored in the field of Information Systems (IS). Recognizing Zoombombing as a form of collective trolling, we aim to uncover the group-referent intention (i.e., we-intention) behind online community members’ participation in Zoombombing. Drawing on the social identity model of deindividuation effects (SIDE), we examined how the two aspects of IT-enabled anonymity (i.e., intragroup and intergroup anonymity) exert influence on social elements (i.e., social identities and online disinhibition), ultimately affecting the we-intention to engage collectively in Zoombombing. We validated our research model with a scenario-based survey involving 344 Reddit users. The study contributes to the understanding of Zoombombing as a new form of online collective trolling behavior from the group-referent and sociotechnical perspective and provides insights for research and practice.