There’s so much in the news about men trolling women which is being ably dealt with by many others. I wanted to look a bit more though at women who troll other women… it’s a frequent occurrence on fashion and beauty blogs. Click here or see it in the side bar.
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3 comments
I just watched your video on trolling. You asked for comments.
I think that the truly nasty trolls are not necessarily driven by insecurity or jealousy. They’re probably just not that empathic. I doubt that those trolls believe that they’re actually hurting a person, or if they are that it matters. I imagine a good majority of them wouldn’t dare to say that sort of thing in person (at least not after the age of about 15) but the internet is a consequence-free zone for them. How do you know who someone really is, after all? So it’s a free-for-all and then once they’ve posted, off they go to do something else, regardless of the consequences. Anyone who comments on the beauty guru trash site falls into that category, in my opinion. (I got that site once on a google search, and felt I needed a shower after looking at it). The same goes for some bloggers, btw, although I don’t tend to read them. (Any blogger who prides him or herself on having “robust” views or being free from “political correctness” pretty much seems to fall into that camp in my experience. They attract similar people as commenters, so I have stopped reading them at all. Better to leave them to stew in their prejudices).
That said, I do think that some bloggers tend to view a negative or critical comment as trolling when in fact it isn’t. If you take the internet out of the equation, people would still disagree. But I’ve been to blogs where the reaction to any critical, but politely-expressed views, is so negative that it discourages me from commenting at all. I don’t want to upset anyone, but I assume that the reason comments are made available is because comments are welcomed. In truth, I think that there are bloggers who say that they want comments, but in fact what they really want is agreement or approval. The more honest will say so, although there seem to be relatively few of those. I say this however from the point of view of a commenter; I do not blog.
I think hard about what I write in these comments. I read it back and try to make sure that I’ve said what I mean and that my meaning has come through in what I’ve written. (Although as you can tell from this comment, writing is not my business so no doubt I don’t express myself as well as a writer might do). I would hope that my good intentions count for something, even if on occasion I disagree with what you’ve written.
Thank you for giving me this opportunity to comment.
Hello, I agree with virtually all that you say…I think that when it comes to choosing blogs that you read, you have to pick those that resonate with you in some way and where commenting is meaningful. I love getting comments.. I publish pretty well all of them (other than obvious trolling) because you are right – that’s what the comment box is for. However, although I am happy to take negative comments or different views, it’s pretty much about how you say a thing. Some people are really offensive and sometimes I don’t think they mean to be – they’re being vehement but it’s come out like a personal attack. So, I try to use a common sense filter on those occasions. Bloggers are so close to their blogs – we do put ourselves out there and pretty much take all comers – and I think, certainly for me, it’s sometimes hard to see your days work brought down to pretty much a flippant, meaningless and rude comment. I think sometimes it looks like what we are doing is really easy which isn’t always the case; maybe I could liken it to spending your whole day spring cleaning your house and someone pops in and says, my god, what a mess! Anyway, I appreciate your thoughtful comment and thank you for taking the time x
Hey BBB enjoyed your Trolling Vlog and think really you nailed it. It really is people who are jealous and insecure; this type of communication makes them feel powerful because they are invisible to the naked eye which also makes them bullies and cowards. They would NEVER do this on a one to one basis because they don’t have the balls…
I love how your fellow blogger handled their trolling experience ‘where’s my troll’ ‘bless my little troll’… Lol that really is the perfect way to get rid of them… Or as you say, not giving them the power and ignoring them completely!