Internet Trolls

 

            I opened my Facebook yesterday and saw a video of a group of Polish kids performing at a church in Cleveland. It was a Nativity Scene and they were dressed appropriately – there were shepherds and angels there. There was Mary and Joseph, and Baby Jesus. Everything was adorably hand made: their outfits and props were a bit clumsy, but you could see that the teachers and the kids (and their parents!) had put a lot of effort in it. Hurrah! The tradition of Christmas carolling continues! And then I made the mistake of looking at the comments section.

Here she was. An Internet troll. “This is horrible! The props and decorations are disgusting! This is not what a REAL Polish tradition looks like!” I sat there, thinking about that woman. She is not the only one to post mean things under people’s posts. You don’t have to be Russian to mess with people on the Internet. I don’t know why she wrote that mean thing. Was it out of spite? Was she bored? Envious? What really matters is whether she thought about the impact of her comment.

Some time ago, a prominent member of the Cleveland Polonia posted something they should not have posted. I was taken aback by two things: the stupidity of that post, and by the amount of Internet hate they received. It was not a simple “You’re stupid!”, or even a mean “I hate you!” No. The comments posted there were vicious. The amount of filth poured on that person was disgusting. For a moment I thought that maybe those comments were written by a bunch of teenagers who do not know any better. I clicked on the pictures of the people who commented under that post and was taken to profiles of fifty-something-year-old mothers of three, animal lovers, serious business people, and peace loving retirees. They live in Poland, Germany, the US, and Australia. They spend their vacations in Hawaii, and play Candy Crush. All was there. If I can do this, surely a much more experienced person can dig deeper. Is it a physical thing? Do the screen and keyboard create some sort of a wall that seems to keep us undercover? For a reason completely unknown to me, people think they are anonymous if they post something on Facebook. News flash: they’re not.

The discussion under the carolling video was a heated one. People who didn’t like the comment were easily able to check the profile of the mean woman. Even though she had used a pseudonym, they were quickly able to figure out who she was. Nothing can be kept secret. Whatever we post can and will be traced back to us.

 

Maria Sladewski