Open Discussion: Trolling + Cool Video!

There's a difference between trolls and people who are hard to talk to. Sometimes you can talk to even difficult people by listening to them and asking questions. Trolls don't really want to converse or even put forth a certain point of view; they just want you to notice them. Kinda like the difference between someone who stands on a street corner and reads a political speech and a guy who runs naked across a baseball field. The simple thing to do is mute them and go on with your conversation.

If troll says something you find hurtful, remember that he doesn't know you so it's kinda like telling me the paint job on my car is ugly when you've never seen my car. Personally, I don't like people who go out of their way to bother other people, but that's what the mute/report button is for.

Years ago, when the Internet was in its infancy,I was targeted by a troll. I'd published some articles in a print magazine and been well paid. The troll started emailing me, challenging me to 'prove' I knew what I was talking about. To cut a long story short, I completely lost my confidence and haven't written for publication since.

Today, my feed had this video, and an invitation to write for the 7 cups blog. I think the Universe is trying to tell me something...

➢ What are your initial reactions to the video?

Thanks @heather for posting this, and thanks @affyavo for the link. Both are extremely powerful and definitely worth spending the time to go through.

➢ How would you define a "troll"?

A person whose intent is to generate negative emotions solely for the purpose of generating negative emotions

➢ Why do you think some people behave in a hurtful way?

Personally, I think it's because they have a problem that manifests itself through trolling. The things that they say are simply masking their real problem. The people they attack are chosen because they feel that they have the maximum chance to cause damage.

➢ How have you personally been affected by trolling?

Yes, I have, though I'm not a typical target. I think most typically a troll uses sexuality, race, religion etc., deep rooted things for an individual, to make a full on attack designed to cause damage, fear and upset. In my case that doesn't happen much, but it does sometimes.

➢ What have you learned from your experience?

People get goblins inside them from time to time !! Call them voices, call them egocentric impulses, whatever... they are just nasty influences that make us want to do stuff that ultimately isn't good. We are not our goblins. When someone really is seeking to erradicate their goblin, I'm delighted to try to help. But when someone just wants new people to unleash the goblin onto, then really I just try to establish that this is their intention, and talk through what that actually means. Bathed in the light of truth, most goblins just wither away and die, as was the case in the excellent blog post @affyavo so wisely shared.

➢ Did you learn anything from the video? Yes, the poem is wonderful and hits the nail on the head. I especially liked the part when it talked about "you are better than this".

➢ If you could share one tip with other site users on how to deal with this type of behaviour, what would it be? If someone is trolling you, identify it early and either tell them that you don't really think you can help, and politely leave the conversation.

Thank you for posting this. Now I know what the troll features. During I become a member at 7cups, I accidentally go to welcome and support group chat. At that time they harrasing someone and make fun of them being raped and so on. That's feel so horrible although i'm not involve with it, and we just cant do anything to make it stop, so I just click on the report button. I really hope someone doesnt get trigger from that. That is too dangerous.

I read all the comments here, got really nice view and good information. Thank you so much :D

i loved it ..great

That video was awesome!

What are your initial reactions to the video?

It's dramatic, but I believe it's intention is as a piece of art rather then an indepth piece on 'Trolling'.

➢ How would you define a "troll"?

Boring, hurtful, boring, threatening, boring, a mood changer, boring sad, boring, you get the drift.

➢ Why do you think some people behave in a hurtful way?

There could be loads of reasons, it could be to do with their personal histories, it could be that they think it's entertaining, it could be that they get a buzz out of posting shocking things, it could be that can't express themselves any other way, etc.

➢ How have you personally been affected by trolling?

It's negligible, high boredom threshold, the saying 'Empty vessels make the most noise', kind of works.

➢ What have you learned from your experience?

That it can be very damaging to people who are more 'vulnerable' than me.

➢ Did you learn anything from the video?

As previously stated wasn't indepth.

➢ If you could share one tip with other site users on how to deal with this type of behaviour, what would it be?

To report it, 'it's tomorrow's fish and chip paper', Admin should ban known 'Trolls', by not taking action 7 Cups is giving them a stage,
I would also add that in a lot of countries it is against the law and can have consequences.

https://thenextweb.com/uk/2016/03/10/trolling-become-digital-crime-uk/#gref

@Heather

➢ What are your initial reactions to the video? WOW...just WOW....what a beautiful, yet sad video.

➢ How would you define a "troll"? This is a tough one for me because I do know people who consider themselves Trolls but in a fun way..making jokes, but not harming others. But of course, there are also the harmful Trolls who the author (Shane) described so perfectly in his video. They are the ones who find joy in harming others. They do not come to play around, they come to hurt others.

➢ Why do you think some people behave in a hurtful way? In my experience, people behave in a hurtfaul way because they have their own pain that they are hiding behind. They feel alone and hurt themselves, so they want to bring others down to their level. It reminds me of that saying that says something along the lines of "The things people say about you are actually them projecting how they feel about themselves onto you." If you consider that point, you can see that the harmful things they put out into the world are just direct reflections of how they feel about themselves, which is sad.

➢ How have you personally been affected by trolling? I have personally dealt with both types of trolling. The joking, harmless, sarcastic trolls....as well as the ones who are here to harm. The harmless ones are easier to talk to and explain how their behavior is negatively affecting others (if at all) and they will change without issue. The harmful ones...not so much. They thrive on harming so it would only fuel their fire. Those types are the ones that eventually get muted, blocked, or banned because of their behavior.

➢ What have you learned from your experience? I try to be more compassionate towards even the harmful trolls because they may be going through a hard time themselves. I try to relate to them and understand their point of view. And hopefully can work out a solution with them.

➢ Did you learn anything from the video? Not really. It was information I had already been aware of. It just made it all more real.....in a beautiful way.

➢ If you could share one tip with other site users on how to deal with this type of behaviour, what would it be? To try to understand that they may be hurting and try to bring you down to their level. And also to try not to let their harmful words or behaviors affect you in any way because they are a reflection of themselves and not you.

Wow that video was amazing. Honestly I have only found one troll on here (or at least one that made it obvious he was trolling) but trolls are so annoying. For anyone who knows iFunny I'm sure you've seen the amounts of trolls on there and how messed up they can be. I've seen many talk to depressed people about how they should just kill themselves, and all the trolls who hated on so many fandoms. All the comments saying to just drink bleach or hang themselves. It just made me sick. It made me realize that something had to be done. I commented on these people's (not the trolls the ones being trolled) other posts about things and we all exchanged kiks and eventually left iFunny. During some conversations with these people I have learned that many were about to kill themselves. Like litterally on the verge. It really sucks how such an app is full of such pricks. Trolling needs to end, but like the video says, it's been around for a long time. Honestly I don't think it's ever going to end, but here's hoping it does.

What are your initial reactions to the video? It is a way of describing trolls that is applicable to today's technologies.

➢ How would you define a "troll"? A person that is obsessed with controlling or manipulating others.

➢ Why do you think some people behave in a hurtful way? They were hurt, neglected and never loved as much as they needed to be.

➢ How have you personally been affected by trolling? I have had numerous experiences with them, but they have inspired me to rise above the fray and uncover an eye of compassion that can see beyond short term consequences.

➢ What have you learned from your experience? To be more empathetic and understanding and tolerant of others.

➢ Did you learn anything from the video? Yes it was a thoughtful way to see the world.

➢ If you could share one tip with other site users on how to deal with this type of behaviour, what would it be?

Keep asking questions. The troll only controls when they are asking questions. Be the one who is guiding the chat and aiming to its ultimate goal to listen to the member's life concerns. That will guide us past stormy seas.