There are people who may say negative things about a person or company online without a “valid reason to be angry.” Josh Catone, of Mashable, defined this type of person as a Troll. Trolls post negative comments – no matter if they are true or not.
Trolls sometimes THINK what they are saying is true (defined as connecting imaginary dots), but it seems that most often times, they simply don’t care. They just wanna’ hate.
What you can’t do is fight fire with fire. That’s what a Troll wants – attention. What they post publically online while remaining anonymous has but one purpose – to elicit an emotional response – either from you or from those they reach out to in your business or personal circle. And sometimes, they take their trolling offline and aspire to be a bigger, fatter, and an even more important ugly Troll!
Tom Postmes, author, professor, and researcher of online behavior for 20 years, says, “Trolls aspire to violence, to the level of trouble they can cause…” He continues, “They want to promote antipathetic emotions of disgust and outrage, which morbidly gives them a sense of pleasure.”
Please don’t think that ignoring these low creatures will make them go away. Not gonna’ happen. They are Trolls, after all.
The good news? If your very own personal Troll continues to go to extreme lengths in their attempts at eliciting emotional reactions, it’s not long before they are recognized for what they truly are and ignored. Their agenda of taking delight in causing trouble is squashed when the emotional response triggered is a new and positive emotional bond WITH YOU that would not have been formed without their interference. It’s like new growth — sorta’ like spring.
Perry pointed out our trees are in full bloom already. Spring is early this year — in more ways than one!
