There are many things about which every blogger worries every day. Terms, content, spelling and punctuation, the audience’s response to a new post is far from a complete list of what disturbs us every day. Fortunately, most of these problems exist only in our heads. A real blogger can learn to forget all his worries and remain open to communication and constructive criticism.

However, there is one nuisance that most bloggers face. Name it – the Internet troll. This is a person who sows discord on the Internet and enjoys it. Despite the fact that sometimes they even entertain users of the Internet network, trolls are unpredictable and destructive pests of the network (especially if their blow is directed at you or your creativity). For a blogger, there is no more unpleasant thing than to discover under the message he just published, a few fresh, unpleasant and simply insulting comments from such a troll. To defeat the enemy, you need to study it, so let’s try to understand the psychology of the Internet troll.

Although the term “troll” is now closely associated with the Internet community, the trolls themselves appeared much earlier. Adrenaline from anonymous calls, fake letters with newspaper letters cut out from the newspaper – all these are troll creations before the advent of the World Wide Web. The invention of the Internet simply gave them a handy tool and allowed them to hide their real identity more carefully. So why do they do what they do?

The scientists conducted an in-depth study of their behavior, which is generally referred to as “disinhibition”. They define disinhibition as a phenomenon in which one of the community members suddenly violates the prohibitions inherent in any social interaction. This explanation is not without meaning. Can you recall at least one case of trolling, when the message would not be delivered anonymously, but, so to speak, from hand to hand? Probably not one. Thus, although trolling itself has existed for a long time already, its widespread use is associated with the complete Internet anonymity of the Internet world. Let’s consider how to deal with these trolls.

As mentioned earlier, trolls are extremely unpredictable. Fighting them will be a challenge. There are several proven tactics:

Complete inactivity

A good idea is to refuse to enter into a conversation with an Internet troll. Do not feed the troll! Everyone knows that trolls look forward to your stormy reactions, so to speak, feeding on the negative emotions of another person, so if you do not give them what they want, they will remain hungry. The bad news is that one of your readers may be caught off guard by a sudden troll attack. Having entered into a dialogue with your reader, he may force you to enter into a conversation sooner or later. So be careful if you still decide to answer. They will look for any excuse to catch you in their networks.

Hope for the army of fans

Sometimes you do not need to fight the troll yourself, portraying a knight in shining armor. If your audience consists of people who support you and your point of view, they can join the battle. The disadvantages of this option is that the situation can easily get out of control if your readers are not strong in online battles. So keep your ears open and watch the course of events closely.

Fight fire with fire

Will you have enough power to touch the Internet troll? In fact, it is quite possible, but be careful, try not to overdo it. Make sure your response comments do not look too emotional. Remember that the troll eats your anger. If you react to it without anger, irritation, disgust, then most likely you can troll the troll away from your blog.

Disabling the ability to comment

Not the best way out of the current situation, but quite effective. You can always disable comments, preventing the possibility of trolling as a whole. Unfortunately, this will exclude any constructive discussion of your creativity.

Deleting comments

If the troll behaves too defiantly and directly offends you, you can simply clean the comments under your post. But remember that by this you give the troll an excuse to leave even more comments.

You can relatively successfully resist the Internet troll, using one or several of these methods at once. But remember that your opponent is cunning and inventive. Never lose your vigilance.