Ryan Holiday

Opinion contributor

To make a troll like Jacob Wohl even the indirect subject of this column is to give him exactly what he wants: attention. And yet, I am doing it anyway in order to make an important point: There is a fine line between media manipulation and trolling. One is driven by real financial or ideological motivations; the other by a need for attention — at any cost.

That’s why distinguishing between manipulation and trolling matters. It determines the proper response: Manipulation is harmed by sunlight. Trolling is accelerated by it.

Lawyer Michael Avenatti is manipulating the media when he uses publicity and controversy as a weapon to advance the legal interests (and potentially not-so-legal interests) of his clients. When a president or politician passes a lie through a favorable outlet or says something deliberately controversial to hijack the news narrative, they are engaging in manipulation.

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But Wohl, when he apparently attempts to create fake sex scandals or claim that Rep. Ilhan Omar married her brother, is trolling.

The fact that Wohl’s attempts to damage the reputation of special counsel Robert Mueller and to smear presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg failed was probably as much by design as it was from incompetence. Because the end result was that he got the attention. Same goes for the "death threats" he reported earlier this year that a Minneapolis reporter later revealed as probably fake.

Trolls crave mainstream attention

To a normal person, this would be embarrassing. If this was truly partisan black-ops, it would reflect badly on the operative to get caught. To a troll, the fact that mainstream and left-of-center publications covered them is as much a victory as if they had gotten away with it.

Headlines. More followers. The ability to claim that they’re somebody — that’s the allure, even if it comes at the cost of what looks to normal people like total humiliation. Wohl would otherwise only be a low-level alleged financial con man from Arizona. But look at his Wikipedia page (or even the fact that he has a Wikipedia page). Because of all the attention he’s gotten, it’s more detailed than some world leaders.

Yet time and time again, the media plays into his hands.

In 2012, I wrote a book called "Trust Me I’m Lying" that was intended to expose the loopholes and vulnerabilities in our media system. Reporters, too convinced of their own infallibility and purity, mostly attacked me as the messenger. But many extremists and bad actors took notice.

Sam Nunberg, who allegedly gave then-candidate Donald Trump the idea to “build The Wall” between Mexico and the United States, became hooked on the book. So did members of the alt-right. Over the last several years, many of them have reached out to me, and even explained how and why they do what they do.

I happen to know that Jacob Wohl read my book as well.

People need to understand that what these trolls exploit is actually less the craziness or even maliciousness of conspiracy sites (which are typically read only by people who already believe in conspiracy theories), and more the legitimacy of the mainstream media who report on hoaxes, failed stunts or obvious lies. GQ and New York Magazine don’t just write about anybody, right? That’s the thought process of a troll.

Reporters think they are "dunking" on people like Wohl (and other trolls who need not be named) when they write about them negatively or debunk them, but they are doing the exact opposite — they are giving them what they want. They are making them somebody.

Trolls trap the media in a cycle

The more their name is repeated, the more legitimate they appear to themselves and to other losers. But reporters seem trapped — almost like they are by mass shooters — and unable to break the cycle. The motivation of the person is painfully transparent (to get validation and infamy from news coverage) but the terrible things they do are difficult to ignore.

Twitter’s decision to ban Jacob Wohl was the right one. The Daily Beast’s decision, for example, to run a piece about how proud Wohl was to be trending after his ban was absolutely the wrong one.

The reporters who saw through his disgusting and bigoted hoax against Buttigieg were doing their job. But writing about how they exposed the hoax? And the ones who made fun of Wohl for getting caught? Big mistakes.

Because unnecessary commentary and follow-ups still smear Buttigieg by connecting him to a scandal, even if it’s a fake one. Because it wastes the time of everyone who reads it. Because it makes Wohl seem like someone worthy of coverage, as if he is some shadowy figure, some master of the dark arts. It plays into his ego. It encourages him to do this over and over again.

Editors know better and reporters would rather write about other things. But these trolls are good for business. They help feed the insatiable monster that is our page view-driven online news system. They give talking heads something to chatter about. They give Twitter addicts something to get angry about.

You can’t con an honest man, the saying goes. That’s the problem — the system isn’t completely honest. No system that rewards traffic over truth is.

Everyone is profiting from the Jacob Wohls of the world. Everyone, that is, except the public; except our political system; except our culture.

The solution is so simple: You put out a fire by depriving it of oxygen. You stamp out every ember. Otherwise it becomes a full-blown conflagration.

The same goes for trolls.

Ryan Holiday is the author of several books including "Trust Me, I'm Lying" and, most recently, "Conspiracy." Follow him on Twitter @RyanHoliday.