The trolls I remember from children’s books were dull-witted, cranky creatures who threatened to eat billy goats if they didn’t pay a toll, or evil villains who stalk and kill innocent gnomes. Vocabulary.com describes trolls this way: “a supernatural creature who is either very big or very small, ugly, and not very nice.”
That fits today’s real trolls… the internet troll. Unfortunately, internet trolls are real, and they can cause real harm, or at minimum, get you to waste a ton of time and energy being angry.
Internet trolls “write negative and hostile comments on a website in order to provoke people,” according to MacMillan Dictionary. If you’ve been anywhere on the internet, you know these trolls are everywhere. The more we engage with them, the more they believe they’re relevant. You can’t win an argument with a troll, they just double down, even when they are blatantly wrong.
Responding to an internet troll is the equivalent of giving the troll under the bridge your gold… the troll will take your gold and then gobble you up, you still won’t get across the bridge. Better to ignore them. Don’t give them your time, energy or attention. They aren’t worth it.
By NIKI TURNER – editor@editorht1885.com
There’s no need to publish this, but just FYI: “trolling” in the internet sense is luring others to rise to your bait, as in fishing. 🙂
Have a fine day!
You are correct, Art! And that definition also applies, I think! ~Niki