History Main / InternetJerk

* In the ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'' Franchise/MonsterVerse ''Fanfic/AbraxasHrodvitnon'', there's a recurring token Internet Jerk on the Monster X news forums who expresses anti-Titan sentiment, calls Monarch "egghead retards", and repetitively complains that [[AdaptationalHeroism the new Titan]] is going to end the world.

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'', Peter, Cleveland, Quagmire, and Joe decide to make a [=YouTube=] channel. Then came the fateful moment when they checked the comment section.

The perception of jerks on the Internet has changed over time. Since people online cannot actually ''physically'' confront each other, "Internet Tough Guy" used to be a synonym for [[FeetOfClay people who talk a big game but cannot follow it up]]. However, during the 2010s, an increased recognition of the emotional harm that verbal harassment can cause, instances of cyberbullying leading to suicides, and cases of terrorists announcing their intentions online before actually carrying them out in RealLife, have all reduced the implication that an Internet jerk's words are mere show.

The perception of jerks on the Internet has changed over time. Since people online cannot actually ''physically'' confront each other, [[FeetOfClay "Internet Tough Guy" used to be a synonym for people who talk a big game but cannot follow it up]]. However, during the 2010s, an increased recognition of the emotional harm that verbal harassment can cause, instances of cyberbullying leading to suicides, and cases of terrorists announcing their intentions online before actually carrying them out in RealLife, have all reduced the implication that an Internet jerk's words are mere show.

The perception of jerks on the Internet has changed over time. Since people online cannot actually ''physically'' confront each other, [[FeetOfClay "Internet Tough Guy" used to be a synonym for people who talk a big game but cannot follow it up]]. However, during the 2010s, an increased recognition of the harm that even purely verbal harassment can cause, instances of cyberbullying leading to suicides, and cases of terrorists announcing their intentions online before actually carrying them out in RealLife have reduced the implication that an Internet jerk's words are mere show.

[[caption-width-right:250:Don't take life advice from Website/{{Reddit}}.[[note]]Source: [[https://twitter.com/eenWolf @eenwolf]][[note]]

[[quoteright:200:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/7b2979df49ff5ba32958fde1f912286b.png]]
[[caption-width-right:200:Don't take life advice from Website/{{Reddit}}.[[note]]Source: [[https://twitter.com/eenWolf @eenwolf]][[note]]

[[caption-width-right:350:Don't take life advice from Website/{{Reddit}}.[[note]]Source: [[https://twitter.com/eenWolf @eenwolf]][[note]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/7b2979df49ff5ba32958fde1f912286b.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Don't take life advice from Website/{{Reddit}}.[[note]]Source: [[https://twitter.com/eenWolf @eenwolf]][[note]]]]

[[Don't take life advice from Website/{{Reddit}}.[[note]]Source: [[https://twitter.com/eenWolf @eenwolf]][[note]]]]

** In "Calm Down" he raps a brief passage [[TalkingToHimself as]] an internet music reviewer, in a [[CopycatMockery stupid whiny voice]]:

* [[Music/Demi Lovato]] lyric: "Haters that live on the Internet/Live in my head should be paying rent."

Someone, under the cover of anonymity, acts like a {{jerk|ass}} on the Internet. Common techniques are [[InstantHumiliationJustAddYouTube derogatory videos]], insults and personal attack, {{Catfishing}}, doxxing, sexual or other harassment and in the most extreme cases death threats or [[WesternTerrorists plotting terrorist attacks]].

The perception of jerks on the Internet has changed over time. Since people online cannot actually ''physically'' confront each other, [[FeetOfClay "Internet Tough Guy" used to be a synonym for people who talk a big game but cannot follow it up]]. However, during the 2010s an increased recognition of the harm that even purely verbal harassment can cause, instances of cyberbullying leading to suicides, and cases of terrorists announcing their intentions online before actually carrying them out in RealLife have reduced the implication that an Internet jerk's words are mere show.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheBoysDiabolical'': Comes up in the short "[[Recap/TheBoysDiabolicalS1E04BoydIn3D Boyd in 3D]]", where Boyd's relationship with Cherry after she takes on a CatGirl appearance eventually leads to commenters harassing him by comparing it to [[BestialityIsDepraved bestiality]].

Often goes hand-in-hand with a SocialMediaIsBad message. May overlap with BadInfluencer, except those people are ''famous'' and do it.

* ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline'': Sugou Nobuyuki may very well be one of the worst examples in all of fiction. While most examples of this trope merely have those online acting as massive jerks which they could not get away with in real-life. Sugou sees being in a virtual world as the perfect excuse to be a sadistic bastard, conducting inhumane experiments on players and making numerous attempts to sexually assault Asuna, before going for the full on AttemptedRape. And then Kirito finds out he's just as bad in the real world as he is online, when Sugou tries to kill him using a knife.

* In and episode of ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' Peter, Cleveland, Quagmire, and Joe decide to make a [=YouTube=] channel. Then came the fateful moment when they checked the comment section.

** In "On Fire" he trashes an unnamed person [[note]]generally assumed to be Em's [[UnknownRival one-sided enemy]], Nick Cannon, who had written an unhinged blog post calling him a jealous racist[[/note]] for shitting on him on a blog.

* ''Fanfic/AbraxasHrodvitnon'': In this ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'' Franchise/MonsterVerse fanfiction, there's a recurring token Internet Jerk on the Monster X news forums who expresses anti-Titan sentiment, calls Monarch "egghead retards", and repetitively complains that [[AdaptationalHeroism the new Titan]] is going to end the world.

For a potential explanation of ''why'' the Internet Jerk does what they do, see the {{Gift}}