On Blogs and Trolls.

The hardest thing about blogging isn’t thinking of new stuff to write, or building an audience or any of that stuff – it’s learning to step back from the blog and not take it personally.

I’ve been blogging now for three years, more or less. It’s been on the whole a positive experience.

Of course, when you blog, people have an irritating tendency of not agreeing with everything you say. Looking back over the blog archives this weekend, I’ve had a number of impassioned debates with the likes of PJ, Wordsmith and TWL. Sometimes we’ve disagreed strongly – PJ in particular keeps me on my toes, and I still laugh when I remember the post where TWL said “I think you’re missing something, Sally – a sense of humour.”

It’s hard not to take disagreement personally. Although rationally it’s just a difference of opinion, I think your fight or flight reflexes kick in the moment you realise it’s one of ‘those’ comments. I try to maintain perspective, and I hope I get the balance right between taking part in debate and agreeing to differ most of the time. 

But I have to admit, I really struggle to have perspective about trolls.

Getting Ink has had a troll for over two years now. He clearly knows me personally, he’s almost always insulting, likes to imply I’m morally bankrupt, and will occasionally throw in random insulting comments. Most recently my troll has called himself I See a Darkness, but he’s also posted as “baffled” and “cunning linguist”. Before that, there was a troll called “bell end” who may or may not have been the same person (bell end used the very same IP cloaking service that ‘Richard’ used when commenting last night).

I've published most comments made by the troll. Mostly he’s innocuous, with lines like: “You couldn’t even pretend to be nice. You’re not that good an actress” or “Using a blog to wage cheap vendettas is cowardly and pathetic”. Ironic, I know. There are others I saved but didn't publish, some because they reference my daughter.

Rationally, I know not to feed trolls. Don’t engage with them and they’ll get bored. Except it’s been two years now, and my troll is still muttering away to himself under his little bridge. He visits the blog almost every day, sometimes eight or nine times in 24 hours.

I know from experience that it can be really hard to ignore a troll. Typepad automatically logs the IP addresses of everyone visiting a blog, so I knew from the start that my troll lives in Brighton – and when he started posting, I lived there too. I would wake up every morning knowing that someone who knew me and lived locally hated me with enough energy to post anonymous comments about me on a blog. Some weird, twisted individual would go to all the effort of posting on a computer at 3am just to make sure I knew that "everyone hates you" and "you're a laughing stock".

Four months later, I sold my house and moved 300 miles away. Of course, I could have stayed in Brighton and my decision to leave wasn't entirely down to the anonymous comments - but my troll definitely took a bit of the shine off the city for me. It never felt quite as friendly after he turned up. Fortunately, it's turned out for for the best and I'm very happy where I am now.

I can’t say with 100% certainty who the Getting Ink troll is. But I can say this: it ends right here.

Getting Ink will not publish any more comments from anyone sharing an IP or email address with I See a Darkness, or for that matter from anyone using an IP cloaking service. I'm knocking down the bridge and this blog is a troll free zone.

Have a great weekend, everyone.

Sally

Comments

[Euphrosene Labon]

Sorry to read about your troll, Sally. You've done very well to put up with him or her for so long. Hope you're having a good weekend.

btw, either I have lost track of time or your date is wrong.

Cheers Euphrosene

[Reluctant Blogger]

Funny things blogs - because someone mentioned trolls in response to a piece of mine yesterday and I had no idea that was what the word meant - I always just thought of the Billy Goats.

But how awful. With all stalkers you have to cut off any feedback at all. So you are doing the right thing. I am amazed you have put up with it for so long. Blogworld is a gift to weirdos, so easy to lurk in.

[LH]

Good move Sally .... Enough!

[Sherrilynne Starkie]

It's your blog. You don't have to publish anyone you don't want to. One of the perks of ownership.

[Chris Green]

I think you have made the right decision Sally. Engaging in heated and constructive debate with someone who has an opposing view is one thing, being nasty and not even having the guts to put your name or IP address to your post is another.

Don't feed the troll, and the troll will die.

Chris

[SteveR]

Sally,

We've worked together for almost four years and I think I can safely say you're far from a laughing stock.

So-called journalists who post on other journo blogs at 3am just to say mean things about their kids? They're the laughing stock as well as being spineless spiteful little bullies. The last couple of posts here have been REALLY enlightening about certain people, and Dan's perfectly right - it's a small world and people should be a bit more careful about who they start trying to bully, in my view.

[Emily]

Good for you Sally.

And don't feel bad for having heated discussions with named commenters either - I always think I would do the same in the pub, and its *my* blog afterall ;-)

[PJ White]

Hi Sally

Hope you had a good break. And don't feel too pessimistic this Monday morning.

Worth remembering that there are a lot more people enjoying & valuing your blog than there are immature lads playing silly buggers. By a long way.

It is very hard, when you are under attack, not to take it personally. Especially if some things said are personal in nature. Yet such attacks are often, perhaps usually, not personal at all.

People are motivated by something that has more to do with them - boredom, envy, their own sense of failure, whatever. Yes, they will tend towards exploiting a person's perceived sensitivities. But it's instinctive, not considered, and most likely doesn't mean a thing. It ain't nice, but is more pathetic than malicious.

Illegitimis non carborundum.

PJ

[David Child]

Harking back to Mrs Merton everyone loves a heated debate. Being slagged off's a different matter - unless alcohol (on both sides) is involved and the option of lobbing a water balloon or two, it's just boring.

You do right, Sally.

On a separate point, I crossed one of the UK's last privately-owned toll bridges last week (in Aldwark, York) - I was so upset that the man collecting the money wasn't a troll...sometimes trolls are appropriate.

[Jon Clements]

In the 70s I remember my mother getting crank calls and my Dad trying to record the caller's voice on another extension to pass on to the police. They always felt they knew who it was (a neighbour, allegedly) but could never prove it and it just made everyone bloody miserable.
Fast forward 30 years, and it's the democratisation of opinion on the Internet that we have to thank for citizen power and its unpleasant by-product, the stalker troll (A "stroll"? Nah, doesn't work).
You know, blogging should be fun and full of impassioned debate, not personal vendettas. It's a shame you've had to take such measures, but good for you.

[Wordsmith_for_Hire]

Heated debate = good. Trolling = bad.

Simple as.

Sally and I have indeed had some fairly impassioned discussions on here, usually about grammar. She's also someone I have enormous respect for as a journalist and a person, someone I've almost but not quite met face to face due to clashing schedules and someone who really does not deserve to be trolled for any reason whatsoever. I've been trolled myself on t'interwebs so I know how horrible it can be.

Sometimes you just have to take a stand.

Sally was right to do so.

[Stephen Waddington]

I've also suffered troll comments and postings. Ignore them. Life is too short. Most of the bitching is rooted in jealousy, the worst of all emotions. If they were worth taking seriously they would call you up direct.

Have a look at how Wife in the North, author Julia O'Reilly deals with trolls: http://www.wifeinthenorth.com/2008/09/faintheart-never-fucked-fat-pig.html.

[Amber]

Funnily enough, I just posted about this yesterday - it was a full moon, and and I can always tell when it is because that's when the trolls come out to play!

I have absolutely no compunction about banning trolls, and I actually operate a fairly strict comment policy, which means that as soon as someone gets abusive, they get banned. Constructive criticism and debate is welcomed, but when people start getting personal and posting purely to attack, I just don't feel I have to put up with it.

I also understand how it feels to be targeted by someone who "knows" you. Last year I started to get a lot of abuse on my personal blog from someone who claimed to be one of my neighbours and who had taken great exception to some of the things I'd written, claiming they'd printed out the entire blog and circulated it to everyone in the street, that "everyone" was now laughing at me, etc etc. The IP address confirmed that the troll was, indeed, in the same town as me, and after a couple of days he was joined by two others. Of course, it could have been a couple of bored kids on their school holidays, but it was unsettling enough that it made us seriously think about moving, although the sheer cowardice on display also completely enraged me...

Oh, and then there was the colleague at a certain blog network who used to leave anonymous, and very abusive, comments on my posts for the site we both wrote for, presumably because he didn't like the competition. Posting other, totally innocuous comments from the same IP, but under his own name, really wasn't his best idea ever.

Anyway, sorry for taking up half the page here rambling on about myself, Sally. Just wanted to say, though, that I think you're totally in the right to declare your Troll Free Zone - there are some really disturbed people out there, and I'm amazed by your patience in putting up with them for so long!

[the finisher]

Your troll crossed the barrier from posting opinions to harassment.

If I were in your position, I would inform the authorities, particularly as he referenced your daughter.

He doesn't need ignoring, he needs locking up with all the other sad, lonely, scumbags.

[charitygirl]

please don't let this sad person stop you writing sally.

for one thing, you publish informative, honest and witty post consistently which are so useful to us young PR bucks

also, you're the only other brit in the meedja industry who has heard of the gilmore girls!!

Don't let the 'die jerk' ballerina types get you down!

[Danny Bradbury]

Hey, Sally. Optimising the signal to noise ratio in comments threads by banning trolls does us all a favour, and it seems to me there are clear lines that distinguish a troll from someone conducting a heated debate. Personal attacks are a good example, and anyone taking shots at a person's kids on a blog should be instantly squished. Good for you.

If you're able to link any of the comments about your kids to the non-cloaked IP addy of the person blogging from Brighton, I'd take it up with the ISP that owns that address space. There's something in the UK similar to a john doe lawsuit in the US, that may enable you to get their details from the IP address they were using, if it wasn't too long ago. If you need to know more, I can put you in touch with a couple of people who know this stuff inside out.

Anyway, you did right. Don't let them get you down.

[Robyn's Nest]

Hi Sally

Sorry to hear you've been cyber-stalked by a troll who clearly has little else to do with his/her time and needs to get out there and get a life.

I've received a few "blog hate mails" which I've published just to show how stupid they are. Insulting me for my opinions and then resorting to name-calling and making references about my appearance although they've never caught sight of me.

They need to grow up and we need to carry on expressing our opinions. Blog on!!!

Robyn's Nest

[LH]

Please blog again ... I miss it! (Sad, I know).

[Sally Whittle]

To everyone who has commented on this thread, sincere thanks. It has meant a lot that people don't think I'm bonkers and being too sensitive.

@PJ, I think you're right that although trolls can feel personal, they probably aren't - I hadn't thought about the issue in quite that way before. It's certainly a better way to look at the situation.

@Danny, thanks - I think I might see how it goes and pursue if the comments continue, but at this point I think my best strategy is probably just to move on. Too much energy wasted already, I think.

And @LH, I've just blogged. Happy now?

[Linda]

Oh hello, typical, here I am far too late to all this but just wanted to echo the sentiments here. Don't let the bastards get you down. I remember the business with Amber too (though dunno if she knows I know...) that was a nasty carry on. Take care. x

[mutley]

I think a very wise decision. I would have barred him/her ages ago. I had a problem starting a while back and I changed to medration and just didnt post anything I didnt like for a while! It worked.