I've found over time, the regulars to a community, I'm talking games too, tend to be nicer, and want nice people to join. The real loyal players want others to love their game as much as they do. But I've also found, the less easy it is to "troll" in a given community, the more likely the unkind people find somewhere else to be. Most people are nice and friendly most of the time, it's just that trolls are loud and easy to spot I think. I mean, just look at the game Guild Wars 2... that game has so many players, yet despite the fact that it encourages working together with features like, reviving fallen players giving you achievements and experience points... it's also VERY difficult to troll someone in that game. I mean doing even 1 damage to something gives you full credit and your own set of loot, so you actually end up more often happy someone dropped by to fight the thing you're fighting rather than upset by it. Because of that, it's one of the nicest, and most friendly communities I think I've ever seen in an online game.
I think the funniest thing about GW2 is the fact that if you die, suddenly players swoop in from all angles to come pick you up... going out of their way to revive you because you show up on the map as a downed player. It's really awesome to see. XD
Also I know I mentioned that game a lot, it's just a fun example to me. MMORPGs are generally more unfriendly communities.
I agree with the Human nature side of it, because most people just want to enjoy their community, not disrupt it. The loudest people can sound like a majority when they're all you hear though. Luckily pet sites don't seem to be one of those places that regularly breed trolling. :D
The other side of that is when you have people kind to you, and you don't experience any bad from the community, there's no resentment. You're far more willing and open to sharing the kindness when you don't feel resentment towards a community, even for a small number of them. It feels safe.
