Online Trolling : Why it needs to stop

By Shaurya Sharma

Today, nearly every person in this world has access to the internet. The Internet has become a need for people and they can’t live without it. It is true that the internet has brought many positive changes in society as well as the world. 

However, it has also created various challenges. The most apparent problem due to the widespread reach of the internet is online trolling. 

Online trolling means causing harm to internet users with the aim of bringing enjoyment for the person doing this harm (an internet troll) or entertaining the audience this person wants to impress. And this problem of internet trolling or online trolling is getting bigger day by day. The number of trollers is increasing every day because it is the easiest thing to do. 

It doesn’t take any effort to write a hateful or demeaning comment for anyone. Due to this reason keyboard warriors have increased in our society who take pride in trolling other people for the sake of their fun. 

Trolls can be divided into a number of categories. Some trolls just want people to get enraged by their hateful comments. Some just love correcting other people’s mistakes while some just come on the social media comment section to vent out their frustration or to have fun at the expense of others. Although trolling is not something which has to be taken very seriously it can have a very negative impact on the victim. Victims may suffer from anxiety and depression due to repeated trolling and may lose their self confidence and the sense of self worth due to negative comments from people they have never met. Although trolls can influence people of all ages and social statuses, the  most dramatic effect is performed on teenagers who are vulnerable and susceptible to any kind of attack – real or virtual. There have been cases of teens committing suicide after they became victims of trolling. When trolls go too far and reveal people’s personal information, such as photos or personal history details, they do not realise how destructive their activity may be. 

There have been numerous suicide cases in our country due to repeated trolling because many people can’t take the impact of so much hate and eventually decide to give up on their life. Apart from dividing people, trolling also creates a division in society. Trolls can start a fight between two communities or between two groups of different ideologies. With the advent of trolling, various hostile activities were awakened and it created a polarised society. Celebrities are among the most popular trolling victims because they have a lot of admirers and followers.  Thus, trolls are happy to cause fights among the fans of popular culture idols about whom they may actually not care at all. Trolling is also one of the reasons that mental health problems are becoming so prevalent in the world.

So, how to counter online trolling:

1. The easiest way to counter trolls is never feed them, which means never respond to them and ignore them otherwise they will just get more motivation to trouble you.

2.  Parents should keep a close eye on their child’s online activities and his social media accounts in order to save them from falling into this trap.

3.  Online media corporations can contribute to solving the problem by implementing stricter rules on online chats and forums and by blocking the trolls.

4. If someone leaks your personal information on social media or tries to threaten you it should be immediately reported to the cybercrime department so they could immediately take the necessary action.

5. It is true that due to freedom of speech of speech and large population it is extremely

6. Finally, apart from thinking of ways to change trolls we should come up with the ideas of how to change our society so that there are fewer provocations and more pleasant things to discuss.

In the end, every individual needs to realise that they should mind their own business rather than wasting their time on judging and commenting about someone on social media.