Haters, to the left! It seems there are some people out there who never learned how to politely disagree with other human beings! And now that the Internet has made us a Global Community, people are able to voice their opinions out loud and proud for everyone to hear!
Sadly, this also means that the Trolls can come out to play. Trolls, in case you were wondering, are insecure and mean-spirited people who never learned the proper way to disagree with fellow humans, which is this way, in case you were wondering:
tl:dr: it’s cool to have opinions. It’s fun to voice them on the internet. But it’s not cool to attack people personally! How can you tell if you’re attacking someone personally? Well, does your opinion include the word idiot, moron, stupid, feminazi, retard, butt-nugget, Antichrist, Libtard, Wingnut, or bitch?
Ooooh. That’s very unnecessary. You’re attacking someone personally. Hey. Hey you. Try not to do that, okay?
And what if you have been attacked personally? How do you cope? Here’s a couple of things I like to do when I start to feel an internet-fuelled rage coming on:
1. Have a snack! I have found that when I’m getting upset, it’s because I am hypoglycaemic. Have a Snickers! Maybe? Or fix yourself a rage-sandwich. Get up from the computer and make a snack. Feel better, champ? I always do.
2. Block them! They’re a random stranger on the internet with nothing interesting to say except to call you mean names. You didn’t ask for that, and you don’t have to take it. Block! Problem solved.
3. Ignore it! Let it go, Elsa, let it go. You’re not going to win an argument against someone who resorts to personal insults to prove their point. Nothing good can come off clicking “reply.” But you know what will help?…
4. Keep being fabulous! Yep! Guess what? Haters got me feeling all kinds of upset as I wrote this post! But instead of sinking to that level, I make myself a frickin’ quesadilla, I channel Black Flag, I rise above, and I make a funny post with gifs of cats and Buffy and look! A unicorn! And people who like me and have interesting things to say will read it, laugh at my cute pictures, and leave thought-provoking, intelligent comments!
Uh, that’s you. You! You awesome, fabulous, cat-gif-loving readers! Now tell me, how do you deal with the trolls? Leave me a comment to tell me your troll antidote. An-troll-dote? Is that a good portmanteau? You can tell me if it isn’t, just, you know, no personal attacks.
Leave a Reply