Anger on YouTube

[@RobertFithen]

A few years ago at my job, we had a seminar on internet trolls where, among other things, we actually interviewed former trolls as they explained why they did what they did. It was enlightening. The main takeaway was that trolls are going to troll and it usually has very little to do with the person they are trolling. It has more to do with the person being miserable or unfulfilled in their own life and wanting to bring someone else down. They crave your energy and attention. Even a passive/ aggressive response like you mentioned ("thanks, have a nice day") is still giving them energy. The best practice is to just delete (and even block), then move on with your life. It takes a troll several keystrokes to leave some nonsense comment. It only takes you a couple of clicks to delete it.

[@ShaunHautly]

Yep! That’s exactly what I did. I deleted it. It just breaks my heart a little that there are people hurting bad enough out there to leave a trail of hate around the internet. I wish there were something we could do. You just can’t talk to someone who isn’t in a place to listen. So for now, I’ll keep my little corner of the internet as clean as I can from comments like that. Thanks for the comment, and that’s fascinating (and unsurprising) about trolls and energy from the negativity.

[@hitf5]

They're just a Colin Robinson. Delete, ignore, move on. It really is not worth your time. Let them go like a fart in the wind. We love you Shaun.

[@ShaunHautly]

I hope my video didn’t make it sound like I was unhappy or offended by the comment. It was more about the concern for the folks that do that all over the internet, AND for the creators that receive comments that DON’T know that hateful comments aren’t really about them. Thanks for the love!