Real life trolls have big ears and smelly and live mostly under bridges. Internet trolls also have big ears and are smelly, but they live on message boards. Surprisingly most people do not understand how they work and how they get tricked into feeding the trolls.
Most of us crave approval. We want to be liked. We often, to a fault, derive our self esteem from what we perceive others think about us.
The internet has significantly multiplied our interaction with others. Facebook connects us to hundreds, if not thousands, of friends and acquaintences with just a click. Some people will post a picture or clever remark and stay glued to their iPad all day, refreshingly constantly to see their “likes”. It’s natural to crave attention and approval.
Trolls are wired differently. They crave attention, no doubt, even more so than others. But unlike others, they crave and feed off negative attention. The more outraged and angry you are at what they write, the better for them.
It’s counter intuitive for people who seek out likes and approval to understand that people get off on negative attention. The more outraged you are with a troll’s opinion, the happier they are. It’s like an obscene phone caller. They don’t want you to hang up on them, it’s the last thing they want. They want you to react. The madder you get, the better.
Trolls can have valid opinions to be sure, but they are never satisfied in just expressing it. It has to be an agenda so they can bounce from thread to thread repeating the same agenda, often hijacking threads to their agenda.
Trolls are generally unhappy and want you to be unhappy too. They often lack the self awareness to know this and compensate by telling you how happy and fulfilling their life is.
Trolls will never really leave a message board they inhabit because people will get upset and feed them. When not fed, they will post more and more trying to get a rise out of you. It’s a strategy that always works. Someone will eventually bite and blast them with an angry response, not understanding that this isn’t getting even with the troll, its his life’s blood.
This is where the expression, “don’t feed the trolls” comes from. The only way to get rid of a troll who assaults you with his opinions is to ignore him. Period.
It is important to remember though, that just because someone has an opinion different than yours or an unpopular opinion, that doesn’t make them a troll. We are in a bind in our country today because we only seek reinforcement of our own opinions and make little effort to undertstand why others think differently.
Of course this post is not directed at any person, real or imaginary. It’s just a harmless rant that will scroll off the page tomorrow. Ironically, this post might just be feeding the trolls. -
Most of us crave approval. We want to be liked. We often, to a fault, derive our self esteem from what we perceive others think about us.
The internet has significantly multiplied our interaction with others. Facebook connects us to hundreds, if not thousands, of friends and acquaintences with just a click. Some people will post a picture or clever remark and stay glued to their iPad all day, refreshingly constantly to see their “likes”. It’s natural to crave attention and approval.
Trolls are wired differently. They crave attention, no doubt, even more so than others. But unlike others, they crave and feed off negative attention. The more outraged and angry you are at what they write, the better for them.
It’s counter intuitive for people who seek out likes and approval to understand that people get off on negative attention. The more outraged you are with a troll’s opinion, the happier they are. It’s like an obscene phone caller. They don’t want you to hang up on them, it’s the last thing they want. They want you to react. The madder you get, the better.
Trolls can have valid opinions to be sure, but they are never satisfied in just expressing it. It has to be an agenda so they can bounce from thread to thread repeating the same agenda, often hijacking threads to their agenda.
Trolls are generally unhappy and want you to be unhappy too. They often lack the self awareness to know this and compensate by telling you how happy and fulfilling their life is.
Trolls will never really leave a message board they inhabit because people will get upset and feed them. When not fed, they will post more and more trying to get a rise out of you. It’s a strategy that always works. Someone will eventually bite and blast them with an angry response, not understanding that this isn’t getting even with the troll, its his life’s blood.
This is where the expression, “don’t feed the trolls” comes from. The only way to get rid of a troll who assaults you with his opinions is to ignore him. Period.
It is important to remember though, that just because someone has an opinion different than yours or an unpopular opinion, that doesn’t make them a troll. We are in a bind in our country today because we only seek reinforcement of our own opinions and make little effort to undertstand why others think differently.
Of course this post is not directed at any person, real or imaginary. It’s just a harmless rant that will scroll off the page tomorrow. Ironically, this post might just be feeding the trolls. -
