When navigating the social media landscape, you will run into certain disagreeable types that can be downright nasty to deal with. Since I’m an opinionated old lady who does not like to be ordered around, I tend to get crossways with these disagreeable sorts more often than not.
Trolls
Trolls come in a couple of forms. They “troll” the internet looking for arguments. A troll may post a post tagging a person that they want to annoy or irritate. I have a friend who does this intentionally to annoy his adversaries. This is targeted trolling. They will post memes or annoying accusations towards the person. This type of trolling is the trolling I see most often. Troll hunters will often use this method to draw their opposition into an argument on purpose. Untagged trolls that post controversial content, such as “IhateTrump” posting something old and derogatory to elicit a negative response from Trump Supporters is also targeted trolling.
The more annoying form of troll is someone who posts attacks on a person’s thread. These trolls do this with the express purpose of hijacking the thread and picking arguments with the thread owners. I see this often of a couple of friends’ nightshift threads. I’ve also seen them make a thread and tag a target into their thread. They post the same attacks and arguments, use outdated screenshots out of context, use “sauce” or sources to imply someone is a bad person when their source is questionable or their analysis is ambiguous or just wrong, and try to convince people not to talk to or be friends with the thread owner or tagged target because they are such bad people, and you are bad too if you continue to have any online contact with this person. It is the guilt-by-association claims that really get to me. I get downright angry when I see a person judged by some broad-brush comparison based on phony claims, especially when they question my faith in Jesus Christ.
Shills
Shills are the “hype (wo)men” of the trolls. Or they can be the "hype (wo)men” of the defenders of attacks. Shills generally are arguing along with the trolls or the defenders of someone who is in the middle of an attack. Shilling can take on many forms. I’ve been accused of shilling when trying to settle an argument or to find some common ground for peace. I’ve also purposely shilled for folks who are unjustly accused of being something that they are not because, as I said, I don’t like judgmental people abusing the Name of Jesus Christ or phony Bible quotes to force their point to purposely separate someone from others on the platform. I’ve seen shills @username their friends without a comment to call them into the thread to argue. If someone calls you a “shill” when you are defending someone, they do so with the intent to minimize your impact or to stop you from commenting. This generally makes me comment harder and more pointedly at the attacker. I’ll zero in on someone trolling or shilling and take them apart bit by bit, using their own words against them, until they lose it and cuss me out or block or mute me.
Bots
Bots can be automated antagonist responders to certain accounts or account types, but the term “bot” generally is used in connection with a new account with very low followers as a derogatory term. Bots can be confused with “Socks” which are accounts that belong to a main account but can get in and troll or shill a thread unobstructed because the unknown sock account isn’t blocked or muted. Generally you can figure out the main who the sock belongs to by the posting wording or style.
Handling
The first rule of handling these annoying people with their false accusations and phony “sauce” is to recognize why they are trolling or shilling. They want a response from you. They want you to react and to get angry. They want to get control over your emotions. It is easier for them to hit us older people’s pet peeves because we were raised to respect others and to be respectful even online, and trolls and shills generally have no respect for anyone online. I have only talked with two or three on Truth Social that ever had any respect for me, but I think it was because I made points and they made points, and we both had certain common agreements.
They usually post with impunity. Unless they break Terms of Service, they get to say whatever they want to disrupt a thread or stop a conversation from happening. Their goal is total disruption to prevent information from processing. They can lie, paint others with a big broad bigoted brush, call you names, threaten you with veiled threats, infer that you committed crimes, accuse you of not knowing Jesus as your Lord and Savior, and this is all designed just to get your reaction.
Not Blocking or Muting
When I’m not blocking or muting the trolls or shills, I use their own words to argue back. Unlike my friends, I don’t snark or sarcasm back unless I have their post or their words showing right in my post. I purposely say things that when seen later will not cause me any embarrassment or need to repent from any hateful words or memes. The trolls I generally engage like to screenshoot your words to use against you later, but when they screenshoot me, they get the full context right inside the post. I’m wordy on purpose. It makes it more difficult for them to abuse my posts or words against me or others. I can remember when I said it and why I said it even if they cut off the context or dates from their screenshots. Others who follow me are able to decipher my meaning because it is all written out and dispels their false allegations.
Blocking and Muting
When I have things to do or don’t want to be bothered with their petty arguments, I block and mute trolls and shills. I also block and mute their follows, followers, and as many accounts I can locate that are connected with these trolls. They may say they “won” or have my scalp, or complain that they never interacted with me, but I’m busy. I do not owe anyone any engagement. I am not required to fight with every troll, bust every shill or defend every friend. As a matter of fact, my friends are quite capable of defending themselves, and they have others to help out when I’m otherwise detained.
My friends generally don’t like to block anyone, but will mute them when a conversation is going absolutely nowhere. These arguments with some trolls have been going on for years, and there is no resolution, so when trolls attack or accuse, you can decide to block and mute, to just mute, or to not block and mute and engage if you choose.
More On Handling
This takes me to my second rule of handling. Assume that you will not persuade the troll or shill over to your side. Assume they are there only to disrupt the thread or platform. If you are convinced that you cannot persuade them, don’t bother to answer them if you don’t want to be bothered. Some trolls are paid by the response, so we say “Don’t Feed the Trolls.” Not everyone is cut out to debate or argue positions. These trolls or shills can flame, or make fun of you for not wanting to argue with them, but you’re online. So what? Who cares? They just want to get that rise out of you, to make you say things you should not say, to mass report you for hate speech if you cuss them out, and to get the scalp of you blocking them or them getting you removed from the social media platform. If you choose to debate, go ahead and debate them. But know that they lie and twist facts on purpose to attack the person(s) that they are against. And know that you will not convince them of anything because they argue for the sake of arguing.
Why are we here?
I generally use social media to get information and news. I follow many newsies, Substackers, lawyers and politicians to glean information. I support my President Trump and follow the Constitution. And I enjoy the comradery of follows and followers that have similar interests and goals.
There are many complaints and complainers about the division of the Patriots on social media. I find that by watching who is doing the attacking and who is doing the defending, I can get a good read on who is actually dividing the movement and causing the division. By my going quiet and working on other things, I’m not seeing as many complaints because I’ve blocked the trolls and shills who do nothing but complain. We went through a period of flushing out the trolls and shills (see prior Substack) to determine who these attackers are and how they operate.
Make Social Media Fun Again
In the midst of people who want to disrupt flows of information, there are many great Patriots on social media platforms. There are many fun things you can do to entertain yourselves while you prepare and share information. I enjoyed some silly fun when we adopted REB late one evening, which made trolls crazy. I love the writers, artists and musicians I chat with. It’s like memory lane, and with some of the new AI tools, arts are coming faster, and Pepe “bakes” that are memes with many avatars are great fun when your avatar is tucked in the picture. We’ll post YouTubes of music that we like, and some write music, and this is fun. We talk about our families, our grandkids, and this is fun. I talk with many Christians and regular people seeking Him. I love to share my story and My Lord.
It’s okay to get to know others, but I caution about oversharing on hostile platforms since the trolls that flame us tend to also want to find out our personal information to doxx, or disclose personal data online. I tend to draw the line at specific locations or specific times at the threat of being called a liar just so I can remain anonymous. Even if they don’t fully disclose your personal information, they can threaten you with a doxxing to coerce you into agreement or concession. This can place Patriots in danger and the Left love nothing more than to be able to get a Patriot fired from their jobs or have their homes invaded. So stay safe and have some fun.