Whitney Phillips is an academic who studies trolls. She coined the term "pageview principle" to describe the phenomenon where negative comments are more common than positive comments online, and told me, "People are more likely to take the time to respond if they feel really strongly, either positive or negative. It just so happens that online, negative emotions are often easier to generate." The proprietors of RBD claim that Julia has e-mailed them "anonymous" tips about her dating life and other personal information, while simultaneously trying to have the hater sites shut down. If this is true, Allison is engaging with her community (of anti-fans) to increase traffic and interest even as she publicly decries the hate sites. Phillips cites several people who create outrageous online claims and personalities precisely to get attention: to these personas, even negative attention is better than no attention at all.

Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, loc. 397