The 3 reasons I adore my TROLL.

by



Ive tweeted this.

Ive remarked it to Ren Men. 

Im blogging it here:  Im a little shocked it took me 10+ years living life on the ‘net—but I finally have me a troll.

Less than dreading the arrival of this occasion, I always wondered how it would feel.

Annoying? Super-personal? Frustrating? Would I feel protective?** Insulted?

Im a member of a number of blogger groups and when we chat invariably the discussion turns to the little funny haired creatures and how to react to them.

Rather than address that topic (as its been written about by wiser more articulate writers than I) I wanted to share the 3 reasons Ive chosen to love my troll.

Please to enjoy.

  • S/he’s the best proofreader ever.  Like I should completely be him paying proofreader.  No, I did *not* see that extraneous comma.  Well, actually I did & thought it was a stray chia seed or crumb on my screen.  Sure the anger on said-crazy haired commenter’s end may not be warranted but s/he typically right & I zapped that sucker (and others pointed out) pronto.
  • S/he’s my most honest critic.  The conveyance of the message may be a little, uh, offbeat or fraught with semi-obscenities yet *underneath* there’s sometimes helpful information.  Tidbits of insights which have  made me a stronger writer and which no one else has pointed out.  I tend to blog as if no one is reading while simultaneously blogging as if everyone knows my “story” & is a longtime reader (I know mutually exclusive much?).  I appreciate my wild haired commenter for pointing out the ‘gaps’ which occur when a reader doesnt know the entire story.  Who else cares enough to comb through posts & make book-length remarks on the tiniest of information-gaps?
  • S/he’s helped me fine-tune my brand.  I may not love the medium of the message (the wording. the proliferation of exclamation points) but my freaky follicled friend has unknowingly shown me branding inconsistencies Id never have otherwise noticed.  The comments have made abundantly clear (when I was ready to receive the information) what I’d thought was tight,  thought out branding  contained gaps I needed to fix.  ASAP.

And you?

If you blog whats your approach to the Rumpelstiltskins*** who visit? Are you a deleter? A responder? A starver?

If you dont blog do you read the comments left by others or are the harried haired in fact leaving messages which go UNread anyway?

Have you seen Shrek Forever After?

 

**Ive chosen not to delete comments. Im a firm believe if I choose to dump my purse packpack out on the table & invite you in to take a look you’re free to say what you want.  I do delete comments which attack other readers or guest post writers.

 

***I will forever envision blog trolls as Rumpelstiltskin from Shrek Forever After.  In my mind they’re always shouting: bring me my ANGRY hair!

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Comments

  1. Ha! MizFit…I LOVE this! You are bang-on with your observations, and it’s great that you could actually make use of otherwise heckling comments.

    I had a troll once – I wanted to know what THEIR backstory was, to understand where all the venom was coming from, but you know trolls, they just pop out of nowhere, and then disappear. So I made an open comment in the comment box of my blog to my troll – I knew she’s be reading the responses to her flames. I just laid out what was on my mind.

    The troll ran off to harass someone else, shouting “Bring me my Angry Hair!”

    The End 🙂

    You rock, MizFit.

  4. I don’t comment often Carla and had to add this is a fantastic post.
    It reminds me to see life through optimism not pessimism.

    I need a proofreader!

  5. I could have used these when I had my own RUMPLESTILTSKIN (you’re too funny).
    I engaged Rumple.
    I was the wrong choice LOL

  6. Great post! I appreciate finding ways to improve and try to look through any negative comments I may receive for any possible perspective. And I try to never retaliate with defensiveness bec it just adds unnecessary drama to my blog and I’m not down with that.

    I will say, though, that I had a troll awhile ago commenting about my parenthood and those were not well received. Those get deleted because that is a whole new level of nasty uselessness and insecurity.

  7. I won’t go to the angry hair meaness since you do not address it here.
    I do like how you say she or he helps you define your brand, Carla.

    Good point.

    LOL at the Angry Hair!!!

  9. love it!!!
    I have had and still have my share of trolls
    I usually starve them but comments stay up til they go for the kill against someone else then off they go

  11. Haha I love this. I’ve actually never received any negative comments (I’m sure I will though someday!). I have had 1 person say some negative things about me on twitter and I just chose to ignore it. When I do get some troll comments in the future, I hope that I won’t get upset and that I’ll be able to use it as constructive criticism!

  12. Love how you turned a negative into a positive. I’m not sure what I would do with a troll. Hope yours scurries off and/or puts on his/her happy hair. 😉

  13. Interesting points.
    I have gotten many snarky comments and never thought about the fact they were off-base because the person hadn’t read my blog!!!

    I’m not sure I agree, but good mindset.

  16. I’ve never had a troll. After reading your take on it, I’m feeling awfully left out. Heh. (NOT REALLY! My skin is not as thick as my waistline. I’m just sayin’ …)

  19. Having a troll means YOU’VE ARRIVED in blog world. I took it as a personal honor when I got my first troll.

    and like you, I don’t delete… although I DO delete comments that are racist, gay bashing, or attacks any other group in a prejudicial manner.

    But yes, I do get frustrated sometimes with the trolls, mostly because I often at first don’t recognize them for what they are… I generally waste a whole lot of time trying to explain things or to change their minds.

  23. Hey Carla,
    Being a youtuber with over 500 videos lol I’ve gotten a lot of trolls 😉

    I don’t care for them, unless they are attacking me personally I delete/block them 🙂

    Delete/block is my catch phrase!
    xoxox

  24. I love my trolls. I don’t have very many and they only come out once in a while, but I feel successful when my trolls come out. There’s always something to be learned from it. I have occasionally engaged on Twitter and as long as I am able to stay out of mean or attack mode, the more opinions the merrier.

  26. My troll I mean MY RUMPEL can be vicious. You’re right, however, Rumpel does enjoy pointing out minor errors.
    I am going with the free proof reading POV!!!

  27. Totally love the positive spin on this =) I have yet to have a troll, but I’m sure one (or more) will come. I’m all for letting them comment and not delete, as long as curse words and threats aren’t used.

    And No, I have not seen Shrek Forever After. Happy Friday Miz!

    • Confession: I had clip art & then went up to Torndo’s kinderclass on Wednesday and spied that collection. I *had* to take a picture. Sneak a picture…

          • Have you heard of ‘kinnearing’?
            A knitting blogger coined this term to describe taking a clandestine shot of Greg Kinnear, the actor. Google it!

            And I have yet to be honored by a troll. Yes, honored is how I will see it thanks to this post!

            (hoping I haven’t invoked a rumplestiltskin by this comment!)

  30. I had no idea you had a troll until the other day – I guess I’m always shocked to read a truly negative comment in anyones’ blog, and usually it makes me speechless (not the other day however). Ignoring them is the best policy, but I don’t mind deleting them just because they put such a sour pall on things. Go back to yer bridge, ya troll!

  33. Online: ah, I kill em with kindness first and then let them starve. They’ll always have the last word.

    Offline: I kick and scream and say naughty words back to them. #truestory

  35. Great topic, and you have a great attitude about it!

    Sadly, I don’t say anything interesting enough lately to attract trolls. Just spammers! I delete them unapologetically.

    However, back in the old days, when I was more active in my blog’s comment section, I’d engage a bit if they weren’t too crazy-pants. Found it interesting, plus I have a defensive streak that makes it hard for me to just walk away if I’m feeling dissed. But not sure what I’d do now, probably too busy/lazy to get into it with a troll.

  37. this made me LOL. fantastic attitude about it. Honestly, we can only take them as a form of flattery, even when they are bashing on us. If they truly hated us they wouldn’t stick around. 🙂

  38. I know one blogger who gets trolls. He closes comments, blocks people from social networks and tells people to leave him alone.

    That blogger is an a**hole, but damn sexy. And one thing I learned from your blog, be sexy no matter the cost.

  39. Good for you for turning a negative into a positive. Trolls clearly have nothing better to do than criticize other people. I say kill them with kindness!

  42. Just seeing the pic on your FB page – well, I never thought this was what I was gonna read since I never heard of this. I love trolls & now there is a bad spin on the name! 😉 I sent you a personal note but since I just started getting these, I have commented & deleted.. mostly because the comments are made with no knowledge of me, who I am or what I do AND say false things about me… maybe I will just delete & not comment back now cause that is obviously what they want – to know they made a person feel bad OR they want some sort of reaction – very sad!

  43. Haha, I’ve never had a troll on my blog (yet) but I imagine I’d be more apt to be a responder than a deleter. Like you said, if you put your life on the web for people to read, there is bound to be both negatives and positives that come from that!

  44. I went a lot of ways with it, but usually bad. In fact, I let it get to me enough that I decided I didn’t want my blog anymore and got rid of it a couple years ago, and I had either a lovely baker’s dozen trolls, OR one with myriad personalities. Although, now that I’ve started writing again? I like your method of dealing with them much better! I’m going to strive to go this way with them.

  45. Good attitude!

    I’ve never even had a single mean comment, much less a consistent troll. Proof that I’m a failure as a blogger? LOL

  47. I haven’t had a troll, don’t think I’m popular enough yet. But I have experiences when I was younger with other social media type sites. Mostly I ignore. I DO delete spam though.

  48. I wanna look back through all of your comments now and find the troll’s!

    I haven’t had a troll, and most of my commenters (like you) are lovely and supportive. I do have someone who’s a bit blunt (a male thing perhaps?!) and I got a bit freaked out about a comment they left…. but after pondering on the ‘should I be LESS honest?’ concept I received a lot of encouragement from other readers, so have kept the ‘warts & all’ posts going. (However, it did bring me back to earth with a bit of a thud and was a timely reminder!)

    PS. You also brought back memories of a troll doll I had when I was young. You could hit the bottom of the doll and it’s hair stood up. PPS. Now I need to google the troll story cos all I remember is something about a bridge!

    Deb

  49. Good first response to any comment: “Is it true?” Even if we don’t like the manner of delivery, sometimes there’s wisdom to be gained. (After which, we can nod wisely as we flip them the virtual bird.)

    I don’t delete comments directed at me, but if they pick on another commenter, they’re out of there.

  51. This was fabulous! I admire your outlook toward the hairy little one.
    I’ve only had one and it was a quick, evil visit but I kept the comment and, like you, mulled tha complaint over for two seconds before moving on, but move on I did.

  52. Surprisingly beneficial bless you, I believe your trusty audience would most likely want significantly more writing similar to this keep up the great hard work.

  55. You have the right attitude!!!!!!! I try not to let it bother me. I’ve had a few haters. One recently made a snide comment about some stress I revealed in my life and how I was trying really hard to count my calories. She basically said in her snide, snotty way, that she I should be grateful I have food, and not count my calories. Hmmmm. Was I offended? Yes. How did I react? I chose to ignore her. Trolls definitely aren’t worthy of any stress from me!!

  57. For me, trolls are initially upsetting but I try to immediately turn it around like you and see the good in it. I tot agree that they are very honest critics and if I am honest with myself I usually see they have a point (even if it’s not kindly expressed). So, um, congrats on the troll?? 😉

  58. I made a comment to somebody else’s troll on a different blog, and he tried to yell at me on my blog, but I wouldn’t let it through. It was one of these guys who KNOWS the secret to weight loss/maintenance, though he hasn’t achieved it yet, and got really mad that I did it differently. If he wants to be civil, or at least comment on my blog, he’s welcome to do so, but he can’t come calling me names and having bunched up panties. Not my problem.

  59. The next time I read a weblog, I hope that it doesnt disappoint me as a lot as this one. I imply, I know it was my choice to learn, but I actually thought youd have one thing interesting to say. All I hear is a bunch of whining about one thing that you might fix should you werent too busy searching for attention.

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