dealing with trolls

Shaming The Trolls

Dealing with trolls and bots
is part of the social media experience.

Some people try to shame them.
They share the troll response
and ridicule it.

And that is exactly
what the trolls and bots want.

They don’t care
about the ridicule.
They drop a comment
and run.

They care about reach.
And by shaming the troll or bot,
that reach is expanded.

Instead,
I block the trolls and bots.

I’m not going to change
the mind
of a computer
or of a human
paid to cause chaos.

There’s no point
in arguing with them.

I simply sever their reach
and remove them
from my feed completely.

Block the trolls and bots
and move on.

Delete Old Problematic Posts

A stranger looking for a fight
found an old post of mine.
He posted a harsh comment.
Then he directed
his equally awful friends
to the post.

I deleted the post.
And I blocked
all of them.

Everyone in my circle
had already seen the post.
It hadn’t interested them.
It no longer served
any purpose for me
and for them.

There was no incentive
for me to keep it.
And there was no incentive
for me to engage
with the fight-seeking stranger.

Delete problematic
social media posts
if they no longer serve
any purpose for you.

There Is Always An Exception

A couple years ago,
I decided
not to argue with people.

I state my stance
and, if…when
the other person states
an opposite stance,
I nod,
tell them I hear them.

If their stance is interesting,
I ask them questions about it.
If it doesn’t interest me,
I move onto another topic.

And I don’t ever return
to that topic with them.
I’ve heard their thoughts.
I don’t need to revisit that.

This has made my life
SO much more peaceful.
It has reduced my stress
and I think it has improved
my relationships with others.

There’s one exception
– one of my good friends
ALWAYS offers an opposing stance.
ALWAYS.
If I say the sky is blue,
she’ll say it is greenish blue.

We’re running out of topics
to talk about.

Before my no argument policy,
I didn’t realize
she was so perverse.
She LIKES to argue.

If I want to continue
spending time with her,
I’ll either have to
continuously come up with
new topics for conversation
or
I will have to break my rules
for her.

There is always an exception
for every rule.
When you set rules,
think about how you will deal
with that exception.

Don’t Allow Them To Stop You

The trendy troll review
right now
is to accuse a writer
of using a ghostwriter.
The ‘reviewer’
says the story
doesn’t sound like
one of the writer’s.
They suspect she didn’t craft it.

I write very intricate stories
set in a complex world.

I’ve tried to think of
a writer I could hand
my unfinished series to
should something happen to me.

I’ve yet to find that writer.

My stories definitely can’t be
given to ghostwriters.

Yet I receive
these troll reviews also.
They make no sense for my stories
but that doesn’t stop
the trolls.

Nothing I do will stop them.

So I don’t allow them
to stop me.

Don’t allow them
to stop you either.
Ignore them.
Continue building
your business.
Change the world.