Internet Trolling: Biggest fallout of Social Media
Internet and Digital Media has largely been a gift to the mankind. It affects almost every aspect of life. If you look for a job, you have a digital channel like Linkedin, do you have an interesting product to sell, social media channels and ecommerce websites can help you sell. In the comfort of your home, if you are looking to indulge in entertainment activities like working out or playing online games, there are digital channels. Your digital media can also help you find a dating partner,with just a few clicks! Most importantly, if you feel strongly about an issue and wish to air your opinion, Social Media channels or blogging platforms have you covered.
Thus, there are very few aspects of life that Digital Platforms haven’t positively affected. Social Media has also affected world events in the last 15 years or so, Arab Spring which toppled dictator governments in the Middle East via a single tweet and right now, we can see how mass level activation is happening in the aftermath of George Floyd’s untimely death.
In the wake of its exponential increase in strength and reach, Social Media has brought about a Not-So-Positive phenomenon called Trolling. Trolling has raised its head and silenced some prominent voices.
At the same time, it has also brought about a smile on many faces when it is accompanied by humor!
Source: India TV News
However, not all trolls are funny like the one above and usually, trolls and the activity of trolling leaves a bitter experience at the end.
Define Internet Trolling
During my journey of entrepreneurship and running Social Buzz, I have indulged in networking, understanding problems faced by companies during Digital Transformation and so on. My observation holds that every brand whether big or small, personal or organisational brand, is wary of internet trolling. To some extent, it brings a certain degree of caution. However, in other cases, a heightened sense of caution affects planning of future content, future tweets and other Digital activation.
Furthermore, in some cases, clients or brand managers or brand custodians are not able to define trolling. Thus, I did some homework and brought on board views of various Digital Marketing professionals who are involved in varied capacities in various types of organisations, to share their definition of Trolling!
“I feel that Internet Trolls are nothing but a futile attempt to let out one’s pent up frustration from basically insecure people. They feel safe and pseudo-brave hiding behind the safety and ease of Internet.
Ms Ritu Jhajharia
Interestingly, they look at this as an act of woke activism or a purpose. It’s exactly like bullying in real life. And that’s how it should also be dealt with.”
Founder & Managing Director,
Rolling Circle Pvt Ltd
“I think these trolls are people who are frustrated or have some trauma (visible or invisible) in their life. This is kind of a coping mechanism to them where they vent out without caring for how the other person would be affected by their words. These trolls are aware of the consequences but when they are trolling, they aren’t thinking of anyone else other than themselves. It is something akin to sadism”
Ms Nidhi Rani
Social Media Coordinator,
Kailash Satyarthi Children Foundation
“Trolls cause doubt in your mind. They put the negative qualities of any brand in the subconscious of the public leading to cognitive dissonance in their shopping behaviour. With their huge numerical strength,trolls are able to convey to a large section of potential consumers that the brand is not as perfect as their ads portray. वो कहते हैं ना कि चूहा बोरी उठा नहीं सकता, लेकिन कुतर तो सकता ही है।”
Mr Manas Yadav
Senior Consultant, Information Department
Government of Gujarat
I hope you have understood how Trolling is defined in Digital Marketing parlance.
Types of Trolls
According to BBC , trolls can be classified into two types:
Targeting Public figures:
The first type of troll targets public figures with large social media followings in the hope that they respond. The trolls then have their hateful messages re-broadcast to a wider audience when the target of their trolling, or their followers, respond.
Negative Social Potency:
This category of users derive joy from causing harm to others
Political Trolling
Among the various branches of Trolling, Political Trolling is the most prominent. In a society as the Right and Left divided wider and polarisation becomes rampant, even small issues can lead to trolling leaders of high and small repute!
Political Trolling is a vast topic for discussion and there are examples of political trolling from all over the world, so I shall discuss it at length in my forthcoming posts. However, I shall leave you with an insight derived from Amnesty International report titled Troll Patrol India.
Impact of Trolling
Trolling is a veiled activity under the garb of social media identities. Thought the doer might feel that he/she has attained the end objective of grabbing attention or lashing out at a user in a venomous way but the recipient goes through a range of emotions! Some of these include heightened levels of anxiety, depression and low self esteem.
Recently, when Sushant Singh Rajput, Bollywood actor committed suicide, there was a big media backlash around Nepotism prevalent in Bollywood. Bollywood biggies like Karan Johar, Salman Khan and other star kids etc were targeted. In the days to come, the Social media follower count of Karan Johar, Alia Bhatt etc dropped in millions amidst hundreds of hate-filled comments. The debate on Nepotism flared up and led many actors to quit twitter and other social media platforms and bid adieu to their community.
What should you do if you are being trolled
Just like each person has a different take or reaction towards a certain circumstance, trolling also solicits different responses. If you are as witty as Shashi Tharoor, then, the trollers are in for a bad experience but usually, that is not the case. So, there are a few ways in which you can
- Don’t respond
- Block the trolls’ accounts
- Don’t post online that you’re being targeted
- Take some time out from social media
- If the abuse you receive makes you feel at threat or is otherwise unlawful – report it to the social media platform and the police.
We, at Social Buzz, understand the needs, objectives and potential pitfalls of a Digital strategy before suggesting one to the client, thus, we steer clear of any potential abusive or internet trolling activity. You may trust your brand with us.
Source:
https://amnesty.org.in/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Troll-Patrol-India-Findings.pdf
Marvelous! The blog quite efficiently strings together the psyche of a troll and how to combat it. Thank you for including my quote! Was a great read! 👍
According to me only those person are getting trolled who spoke wrong about our nation, community, about our forces.
But still trolling can be done in a way. Not like this they way people are getting trolled to stop this negative trolling. Their are two types of trollers
1.memers and rosters needs to be more responsible that we never know sometimes person can took a wrong step.
2. Trollers are those whom person is getting trolled offline too by public.
Because we judge someone to early before the outcome.
Like example : Gurgaon boy 17 year old suicide case of doing wrong with girl . Trollers badly trolled the boy which lead to suicide but later on it found boy did nothing.
Trolling can sometimes lead to unexpected outcomes! We need to be mindful of trolling and the affect it might have.
Really good advice and very interesting. Thanks for sharing
Internet is a blessing to us. For me it is a necessity. I can’t imagine what I’d do without it. But along this comes the evil of using it.
Thanks for sharing this great post on dealing with the bad side of internet.
Internet like everything else has its pros and cons. Trolling is definitely a negative part about social media. Ignoring to such trolls is a blessing in disguise.
Very well put! Internet has its Pros’ and Cons and we have to deal with both.
Great post! Thank you for sharing. It’s really interesting to read about the impact of trolling.
Unfortunately, Trolling has a bad impact on mental sanity of the recipient!
Wow I love a post dedicated to this. I never knew what the term was and don’t fully understand why they exist – ugh!!! I guess they didn’t get all their bullying out in their younger years?! Thanks for sharing this education so it doesn’t get people down.
Trolling is a sadistic in many ways and the ones who are at the receiving end, tend to realise this. I am glad you share the sentiment of the education part of trolling!
I agree with all the definitions of troll—especially the one about frustration that they project onto the online world!
In the blog post, I have tried to gather Trolling definitions from people who are at various levels in their professional lives. All three definitions cover the major aspects of trolling! So, I am happy that you could fully relate to one of them! Would love to see you come back for more blog updates !
Great informational post. Agree that internet has its advantages and disadvantages. Thank you for the tips about how to handle
You are most welcome and we are glad you could find value in my blog post!
Weldone ! This is what we need to read today. Trolling on social platforms and digital sites has become very common. We need to stop it.
Unfortunately, trolls have become a commonplace on social media platforms. However, in my upcoming post, i shall dwell into how to prevent getting trolled and what specific features of social media channels can one use to prevent getting trolled!
Wow, thank you for shining a light on this topic! Great post!
Thank you… would love to see you come back!
Internet trolls are the worst. Some trolls can even make a profit from harassing people online, which is disgusting.
Very true and well pointed out! Trolling can be profitable for people and that’s as sad and disgusting as it is true!
hmm super interesting post! Never really thought to much about trolls as I tend to over look them online, Crazy how much of a big part they pay in society now
In reality, if one gets trolled, ignoring the process of being trolled can be a daunting task! However, in my experience as a digital marketer, I can almost guess who can get trolled and why?
This is such an insightful post. I completely agree with a couple of points that you raised up. As someone who shares about their personal life online as a blogger, trolls can be very devastating.
Trolls can really put you down! In one of my upcoming blog posts, I am going to address how to deal with trolls without stooping to their level and without affecting your mental peace and sanity of mind!