I watched Panorama last night with interest; as one of the many popular internet jargon terms was explained and moreover, one of the faces of the often anonymous participants of ‘Trolling’ was exposed.
Trolls (read wikipedia’s explanation or NetLingo’s explanation) have been about for a while, but in this age of ‘over sharing’ [?] especially amongst younger internet users, and businesses on social media, Trolls are not only more active but also intend to be more damaging.
As part of your social media strategy, it’s worth remembering that as well as sifting through the comments to reduce SPAM, you can also need to have some virtual armour in place for negative comments, written purely to provoke reaction; which is the same as I would recommend to any person or any business, young or old at the receiving end of bullying tactics. Just remember to say (to yourself) the old addage “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me”.
There’s no point in trying to reason with an Internet Bully; just take a look at the Panorama episode to see the interviewer have a good go. It’s clear that the internet would be a lot better off without these uglies, but it’s important to know what to do if you’re confronted by one. Ignore it.
This post was written and inspired for SID 2012 : Safer Internet Day 2012