Dear GAW community frens
One of the first memes I ever swipped and reposted was "don't feed the trolls", many years ago.
We know what trolls is. Trolls is narcisistically-driven peopels who want and need attention from other peoples, but who don't have enough self-esteem or capacity or ability to make a good contributions, so they taunt, tease, attack, etc. Anything to provoke some response.
Trolls are originally mysthical creatures from northern Europe. But modern internet trolls survive and get their energy from attention. They need reaction and interactions, in order to get emeotional energy to operate. They cannot generate their own healthy energy. They are cutoff from healthy sources of emotional energy due to their emotional and mental condition. That is why they become trolls.
So, how to deal with a trolls that is posting and pleading for some interactions via direct messages on our Great Awakening board? What should we do?
The first thing is to not engage with them. You might interact with one if they are on the general posts, etc, by deporting them and notifying the moderators. But, if a troll or trolls are communicating via the direct messaging, then you cannot do that. So, in this case, the very first thing is to not engage them.
If you do not engage with them, they can get no powers from you. And trolls want to experience is a sense of power over you and me. They tell themselves, they whisper to themselves almost like a Smeagol voice, "Look! I made him respond! See? I can make her react! I can disturb her emotions! I can make them do what I want them to do!"
What the troll wants you to do is to react, respond, engage and interacts. Because they need it. They need that interaction from their target in order to continue on. They have no other source of emotional energy.
(In reality they have a very low esteems of themselves, and are lonely inside, and unhappy even though they refuse or cannot admit that)
Any interaction feeds them. If you try to engage constructively, it just feeds them energy. If you criticizes them, it feeds them energy. If you talk about them openly with others, it feeds them energy. "see how important I am!? They are giving me their attentions"
Perhaps first is to block, but then if they have a chronic condition, even blocking them will give them energies. If they are obsessed with you, they will make some other accounts and try to engage you that way. So best way is to ignores.
They need a reaction from you to keep trolling. But if you firmly control your emotions and ignore them, this is what they cannot stand. They cannot stand or endure being ignored for a certain time. They will be forced to give up, to put their attention elsewhere, somewhere where they can get a reaction and suck on that emotional energy they need.
So, the best thing is to not feed the trolls. Don't respond. Don't engage. Don't let them take any of your times and emotional energies.
Trolls is like a sort of addicted to emotional energies that are a sort of negative, dark narcissism. They are cut off from healthy sources of energy, like having good friends or loved ones, etc. Many of such trolls are unconsciously addicted to the emotional hits they get from making others react or respond.
It's very sad. Responding to them generally is like giving more cocaine to a cocaine addict. It does not help them. You cannot educate them, because their purpose for engaging with you is to draw your emotional energys, not to learn or grow or become a better persons.
So for them and for you, the best is to not engage with them. Eventually, they may on their own realize that they will never be happy unless they change their ways.
We have a serial troll on the GAW. I think all GAW members should determine to ignore anythings from this trolls. Report it to the moderator team, sure. Or just ignore. If you cannot ignore, then block. Maybe prayer for them, because it is always the best option to love your enemies, but responding to them is not love.
Thats what I think. By the ways, I am not Klaus Scwab.
'trolling' has nothing to do with the mythological creature under the bridge.
'trolling' refers to the fishing or hunting practice of using bait to attract prey.