Ah… trolls. And as I said in the title and in the intro of this podcast, I’m not talking about fun trolls. You know, the sort that live under bridges waiting for passing goats? I’m talking about internet trolls. People who are often faceless, lurk, and set about being pretty darn poisonous in a bid to bring people who are trying, down. So in this episode of the Small & Supercharged Podcast, I talk about my own experiences with internet trolls.
Let’s talk about trolls… and not the fun kind… internet trolls
Now, before I get into this, I want you to know that I KNOW my most recent troll was very tame on the scale of trolls. But I’ve decided to share this with you because the troll incident did make me feel bad. For a moment, I thought about their troll comment. For a moment, I wondered if they were right – I mean if you have someone leave a comment on your content that’s pretty unpleasant, you do initially think ‘oh no, what did I do wrong?’. But then I came to my senses. I looked at the comment. I looked at the name of the poster. I looked at their profile. And their image… and it all became very very clear, very very quickly.
In this podcast, I chat through my encounter, how their unpleasant comment from a shiny new account with a fake profile bothered me, and I also talk about some of the suggested ways that trolls can be ‘managed’ online.
I’m absolutely NOT an expert on trolls and I’m lucky that I’ve only had two minor incidents (so far) and I know that some people have a truly horrific time, but I wanted to share. Just in case it helps ONE person. Because I don’t want you, dear reader/listener, feeling bad because some faceless, cowardly person has decided to create a fake account to lie and/or be unpleasant about you. Because I’m just not standing for that… OK?!
And also, before I love you and leave you, I want to make a point here. A troll is not someone who disagrees with you in a measured, considered way. Who asks you a question or presents a valued argument. That’s a question, that’s feedback, that’s a comment. But there are ways to raise these issues that are kind, useful and supportive. There are ways to share something constructive with someone or ask a question. As you – not hiding behind a fake profile – not being poisonous.
Of course, if a trolling escalates then please PLEASE do report this to the platform you’re on, and if it becomes serious then please do consider reporting it to the police. I found a bit more info about cyber crime online here, and trolling was listed there too.
