The Mind Of A Troll

Troll – In Internet slang, a Troll is a person who starts flame wars or upsets people on the internet by posting inflammatory and digressive, extraneous, or off-topic messages with the intent of provoking readers into displaying emotional responses.

Trolling is becoming more and more common these days, but why do people actually troll and what do they gain from it? ATTENTION!! It doesn’t matter whether it is negative or positive, people who troll sites are so desperate for attention that they will go to any length to achieve it. They may suffer from a lack of confidence or other negative mindset issues yet are too scared to face them. Many people do not like to admit to their flaws, they see it as a weakness. To change your mindset takes work and commitment, for some that is too hard, therefore, the easier option is to point the finger at others in judgement.

When pointing the finger and seeing a weakness in others it relieves you from dealing with your own issues. Sometimes it even makes you feel better about yourself and your situation, but this feeling is very short-lived. Before you know it, you are back to looking at yourself in disappointment and the only way out is to…

1) Take action and address your own issues
2) Continue to judge others and troll

As a successful Public Figure and Newspaper Columnist, I am open wide to trolls, yet I am rarely affected by them. Yes, I receive the odd nasty email or comment but it doesn’t last for long. Why? I STARVE THEM FROM OXYGEN!! Their oxygen is the attention they crave. Trolls love nothing more than a reaction. They thrive on an argument and almost get excited when they are aware they have created hurt or anger towards others. Take my column last week as a perfect example. I purposely gave it a controversial title because I wanted to see who actually reads a whole column as opposed to those who form an opinion purely over the title.

I received an email from a reader advising me how disgusting I was about fat shaming. She continued her email by actually fat-shaming me. This person hadn’t even read the column. If she had, she would have known I was actually doing the complete opposite. She had no intention of reading it, she wanted to troll me. I starved her of her oxygen by not giving her the attention she thought she would receive. What I did do was show empathy, whilst giving facts and was clear that there would be no further communication. However, if she ever wanted to change her mindset, I would be more than happy to help her.

She replied with further abuse because she wanted a reaction from me. She didn’t get it, so she soon gave up! Today’s technology gives trolls a platform. They can hide behind a keyboard, with a fake profile and minimal chance of being caught. It is easy to allow them to get to you. It is easy to respond in anger and frustration. But remember, that is EXACTLY what they want. If you want trolls to become history, a thing of the past, starve them from their oxygen. Either kill them with kindness or even better, don’t react at all. Once their oxygen is removed, they can no longer breath and will have to give up.