How to 'troll' a troll?

In the past few posts, I have mostly talked about the advantages of Internet and Social Media. But the world ain't all sunshines and rainbows, and there's definitely a darker side to the world of Internet. 

Not as good as you thought.

What are the things that you've thought of? Online Scammer? Follower fraud? Or Internet Trolls? I bet we've all heard about of these terms before. And today, I'll focus on Internet Troll. So, what exactly is Internet Troll? 

Internet Troll is basically someone who hides behind the computer screen, and deliberately tries to provoke, disrupt and upset others by posting inflammatory comments/argumentative message. 

While there may be a certain context of humour, it's in fact that internet trolling is not a laughing matter and can get really... nasty. Trolls can be lurking on any corner of the social media websites, from YouTube comments, Blog comments, Forum etc. 

As social media platforms are slowly taking over our life, trolling is perceived as a huge problem and can lead to cyberbullying! 

But how do we avoid Trolls? The answer is actually... difficult. Because with the use of Social Media/Internet, trolling can be achievable easily! Anyone can do it, and almost anywhere. They don't need to interact face to face with anyone, they can simply hide their identify behind the screen. Sadly, most of them do not need to face real consequences which give them more confidence to continue their actions. 

For marketers, it's always good to figure it out who are the angry customers and who are the real Internet Trolls before dealing with them.

We can't avoid internet trolls but we choose to deal with them the right way! 

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A guide to deal with the Trolls.

1. Ignore them. 

Don't fall into their trap, ignoring them will make your life way easier. Usually, the Trolls simply want the attention given to them after making others angry and sad. If zero responses are given to them, most probably they'll just go away since their goal is now unattainable, thus they'll feel bored and move on to look for the next target. 

2. Block them. 

You have the outmost right to choose only what you want to see on your social media. If ignoring them is hard, banning the trolls will be a good way not to see such negative comments on your feed, thus will have less impact on you. Most likely after awhile, you'll forget this instance and move on with your life. 

3. Use facts. 

No one wants to be maligned with inaccurate information or rumours right? Citing a fact in response to the comments is a great approach in attempt to protect yourself from accusations. It must be clear, accurate and calm that it can keep internet trolls from continuing. Must be a fact, and not an emotional/illicit response. 

4. Be Kind.

Most internet trolls are stirring up anger and arguments, and expecting an online 'fight'. This is what they actually seeking for. Hence, if you let them get you, then you have lost in this game. Instead, respond them the hate comments with love and kindness instead, half of the time, the internet trolls will not have any idea to refute or they will be bored and thus, stop the trolling.  

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An example - Actress Gabourey Sidibe’s Instagram grace and kind responses to hate comments.

Internet trolls are everywhere and unavoidable but you can always set your social media private settings to friends only to minimise it. We should not give them what they want - use emotional/anger responses. Instead, we can always ignore, block, kind or humour response so stop their actions. 

Social media platforms and Internet should always be used for better things and be improved for the greater right? Let me know what do you think about Internet Trolls! Have you deal with one before?