Don't Feed the Trolls.....

Ever hear of the expression, "Don't feed the trolls"? What is a "troll" then?

...a troll is someone who posts inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum, chat room, or blog/vlog, with the primary intent of provoking other users into a desired emotional response....

I included "vlog" in the above since vlogging is an important medium in the Deaf/deaf/hh community just as blogging is.

In this day and age of cyberbullying/harassment/stalking via the internet in the deaf and hard of hearing communities, especially the Deaf community, we see blogs and vlogs being produced everyday by people with hearing loss. And from time to time we get our own brand of "deaf trolls" who also run their own blog or vlog with the express purpose to personally attack people that he or she doesn't like. They do so with the intent to hopefully provoke victims into responding should they fall into that trap by responding to a "deaf troll." Such a response would justify a "deaf troll" to ramp up even more inflammatory and extraneous responses to a previous response that he or she started. That's the sole design and purpose for a troll. It becomes a vicious cycle. A cycle where a troll would thrive just to gain that extra attention and, for some warped reason according to trolls, more "fame" or recognition for those acts of continuing stupidity. What's really stupid is to respond to a troll in the first place. We all have been there at one time or another in responding to trolls bent on harassing as many people as possible.

So, we have this expression, "Do not feed the trolls," which means don't pay those trolls any attention. Do not give those trolls any morsel of a reason for them to try and respond to your response. Best thing to do? Of course, ignore those trolls once you realize the negative behavioral patterns and the vicious cycles they thrive on. They simply seek attention in the most desperate and negative way that can hurt, in this case, the Deaf community's own image and perhaps even self-esteem.

There is a difference between having a dialogue and debate but to craft a blog or vlog or a comment just for the sole purpose to personally attack people on a regular basis will ultimately create greater negativity and resentments throughout a community by those who were attacked by trolls. But for people to align themselves with these trolls knowing he or she does those things do not make them any better than those trolls of negativity. Cheering on those trolls or supporting them will only help amplify the negativity and bitterness in a community if people (or victims of cyberbullyings) feel the need to respond to such attacks by deaf trolls.

So, my advice? Don't feed the deaf trolls. Let them live under the bridge, undisturbed, with an empty belly in silence. Don't even look at the trolls just to read or watch what they say because you might find yourself feeding those trolls again.