Let’s talk about trolls, shall we?
To be perfectly honest, this isn’t the first time this has happened to me.
As a conflict correspondent, I got trolled so many times, on my personal accounts and the organization’s accounts.
As an anchor and presenter, it was almost a norm. In fact, once, someone took a screenshot of me while on air only to disparage me and my choice of clothes on X. Of all places!
And what about my hair- several harsh words for wearing dreads on screen. Yes, that too.
While covering the election and going live on Facebook for one of the digital platforms, I was trolled and called a “blatant liar” for saying there were no underaged voters in the polling unit where I was standing🤷🏿♀️
The list is endless. Trolls are unkind, brutal and ruthless with words.
I used to cry so much in the early days and wonder “what did I do to these people”? Who are they ?I don’t even know who they are”
But overtime, through counseling, mentorship, growth and reading, training, support, I learnt to handle trolls differently.
Here are a few things you must know
•Trolls troll you unprovoked
•You may never have known them from Adam
•You don’t even need to “offend” anyone to be trolled
•You can be trolled for what you said, what you didn’t say, what they thought you said, etc
What do you do?
•Don’t give trolls the relevance of reply. Unless it is life threatening, report to appropriate authorities
•Remove their comments
•Restrict them
•Use the BLOCK button- it’s my favorite. I send them to blockville😂
•Show someone else/ talk about it too, if it hurts badly. Don’t shove it aside
•Take a break from social media for a bit and return better
Having said these, I’d like to hear other suggestions. How do you cope, colleagues? Someone only recently too told me “sometimes, you need to respond. Do not be bullied into silence”. Do you agree? Should we occasionally give them a taste of their own poison?😆
