Say no to the haters!

The internet has all types of people on it. With this comes the good and the bad, as with any type of social interaction. You have bullies, flirts, and overall nice people. Although all of these play important roles in the online realm, let’s focus on the bullies. On the internet, there are many names for bullies. A main one being trolls. Trolls are in simple a cyberbully and most likely a coward that uses the internet as a way to attack people in hurtful ways.

Trolls are everywhere. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Yik Yak, and the list goes on. Anywhere there is social interaction between people, trolls will be lurking for their next victim. I believe that the online environment creates the perfect space to cultivate the mindset of trolling, allowing people to take advantage of others and not worry about as many consequences.  

Before tackling trolling, I want to think about how bully in person works. You have two people. One is the bully and one is the innocent victim. The bully hurts their feelings, the victim tells a friend, parent, or teacher, and the bully gets in trouble. Bullies normally prey on people younger than themselves and someone that is already insecure or self-conscious.  There are some cases where bullies have caused people to harm themselves. As it is easy to see, bullies create a lot of unneeded trouble, and that is something we can all agree on. With an understanding of real life bullies, cyberbullying and trolls are not much different.

In the article, “What happened when I confronted my cruellest troll” author Lindy West discusses the intensity and confrontations with an internet troll. Although her story was a very intense and cruel instance of a troll, it shows the severity trolling can reach if not dealt with or eliminated. She says, “Trolling is recreational abuse – usually anonymous – intended to waste the subject’s time or get a rise out of them or frustrate or frighten them into silence.” Sounds a lot like a bully to me! However, in her case, she was not silent. She was one of the brave people who stood up to the troll and the results were quite amazing. He apologized and admitted that he was caught up being jealous that she could be so confident and decided to take it out on her. The story does not stop here though, she decided to talk with him. “I wondered if I could learn anything from him.” continued West, “And then it struck me: why not find out?” (West, 2015). Personally, I think this shows extreme bravery and curiosity for the trolling phenomenon. It poses another question for the internet society, what if we were all able to take a stand and in turn help the bully too? This leads to my next point, maybe bullies are trolling merely for the sake of getting attention.

As it can be seen in the above article as well as ”#Gamergate Trolls Aren't Ethics Crusaders; They're a Hate Group”  by Jennifer Allaway, trolls can be in many different capacities. Sometimes it is just one person, but often times it is a group of people. What Allaway calls a hate group. People gang up for the sole person of insulting or offending others. Allaway says, “After successful indictment, hate group members begin to practice dehumanization, and commit actions without thinking of their victims as human beings” (Allaway, 2014). Hate group members, which are just a large group of trolls, do not see people as human beings. It is just the receiving end of their degrading and insulting ways. Since trollers use the internet, they never have to meet the person face to face and this allows the personal touch to be taken out of the equation. It is easy to forget about the other end when you are not ever faced with it. I truly believe that if trollers (and usually cowards) had to face their victim at some point, the amount of trolling would decrease drastically. If they are not even concerned with the idea of the other person, then that leaves just seeking attention. They like having the attention of dehumanizing people, for whatever reason. As someone who has never been on either end of trolling, I think it is difficult to understand exact why is happens. But, I can say that it is easy to see the want for attention and the possibility of standing up to all the trollers.

Lastly is this: if we were to stand up to the trolls and hate groups, show them a little friendly love, and potentially eliminate their need for negativity, could it actually help? I believe it could. They want attention, so we give it to them. If trolls were stood up to, they would realize they are not getting the satisfaction they want. After all, trolls like making people feel silent. So let’s not be silent. As we saw with West, when she confronted her troll, it not only made her better but it reformed him. As the famous Youtuber, Miranda Sings, says, “Say no to all the haters!”

Works Cited

Allaway, Jennifer. "#Gamergate Trolls Aren't Ethics Crusaders; They're a Hate Group." Jezebel. N.p., 13 Oct. 2014. Web. 23 June 2015.

West, Lindy. "What Happen When I Confronted My Cruelest Troll." The Guardian. N.p., 2 Feb. 2015. Web. 23 June 2015.