Not responding to trolls is not cowardice

 There was a time I rather enjoyed agitating the trolls, but in recent years, I have discovered it is far more fun to block trolls. Trolls are simple-minded creatures. They post negative remarks in hopes it upsets you. They imagine you see their post, pound your fist on your desk or cry or throw things, and they get off on these thoughts. They NEED you to validate their pathetic existence. Thus, ignoring them drives them mad because they receive no satisfaction whatsoever from the effort they put into the trolling. For a while they get more desperate. This troll is trying to appeal to my ego now by making explicit threats then claiming I'm a "coward" for not giving him a platform to make his threats. 

But there is nothing cowardly about blocking an online nuisance. In fact, it is satisfying knowing that person wasted a lot of time to make multiple accounts that were deleted with a couple of clicks. 

It takes far more time for someone to create a new profile than it takes to block someone, so they wasted far more time setting up the barrage of nasty comments than it does to remove the offensive comments. Blocking someone on social media generally removes all their comments from your personal pages. 

I've already written extensively about trolls and how to deal with them at oncefallen.com:

https://oncefallen.com/protect-yourself-from-vigilantes/

In recent years I've had one or possible a pair of trolls completely obsessed with me. I've even discussed them (at least in passing) on this blog. BUT, I don't engage them. When they pop up on my social media posts, I block them. See the screenshots below as an example. 

This threat was very explicit. This isn't the first threat I ever received from this clown but this one is perhaps the most brazen. 

It should be noted that Facebook recently (around Oct. 1, 2022) changed the method of reporting/blocking trolls so it took a little while to figure it out, especially since they don't do a good job of explaining how to do it. But there is still a method to quickly block a troll who posts a nasty comment on your profile:

1. Scroll over the name of the person you wish to block. A bubble will appear expanding that person's profile and you should see a big button that says "See Options." 
2. Click the "See Options" button and a new bubble appears with two options, "Find Support or Report" and "Block." 
3. If you click "Block", Facebook will give you the option to simply block that account, or block that account AND block any other potential accounts that person might make. (Makes sense to choose the latter.) 
   

If using Facebook Messenger:

1. You have to click on "View Profile," and once you're on the troll's profile page, on the options banner just below the name of the profile, at the far right you'll see a bubble with three dots aligned horiziontally, and when you click it, a new bubble appears with two options, "Find Support or Report" and "Block."
2. If you click "Block", Facebook will give you the option to simply block that account, or block that account AND block any other potential accounts that person might make. (Makes sense to choose the latter.)

That should block all offending personal Facebook accounts as well as many Facebook business pages.

This is an explicit threat so this will be forwarded to law enforcement.  

Maybe soon I can share the audio from the many voicemails this loser sent but Youtube would likely flag it because troll used film clips and a couple of them were racist towards Asian-Americans. 

ADDENDUM: The trolls have been crying all weekend they keep getting blocked. It also seems they're having a little internal strife. I'm enjoying watching them fight amongst each other LOL.

Like we didn't already know this; Online Vigilantes are motivated by Facebook likes

Somehow the media seems surprised by this fact.

Facebook protects many of these Facebook groups while banning registered persons from having accounts.

https://www.itv.com/news/2019-05-11/paedophile-hunters-are-destroying-families-in-the-name-of-facebook-likes/

ITV REPORT  11 May 2019 at 12:00am
Paedophile hunters are destroying families ‘in the name of Facebook likes’

Family lives are being obliterated in the name of “Facebook likes”, a police chief who leads the country’s response to child sexual abuse said in a blistering attack on so-called paedophile hunters.

Simon Bailey emphatically ruled out working with vigilante groups, saying they take “completely unnecessary risks” and can slow down police investigators.

Evidence from paedophile hunters is increasingly being used to prosecute offenders, but police are divided on the issue, and some fear the groups’ tactics could impede their own work.

 A brawl that erupted at a shopping centre after a vigilante group of ‘paedophile hunters’ confronted a man

It marks a shift from comments reported by the BBC in September 2017 when Mr Bailey was quoted as saying that working with vigilantes was something to potentially consider.

Mr Bailey, chief constable of Norfolk Police, said: “I can’t deny they’ve led to convictions, but they’ve also led to people being blackmailed, people being subject of GBH (grievous bodily harm), the wrong people being accused, people committing suicide as a result of interventions, family lives being completely destroyed, in the name of what? Facebook likes.”

David Baker, who was confronted by the group Southampton Trap after allegedly arranging to meet a 14-year-old child in a supermarket car park, took his own life a few days later.

The 43-year-old gardener from Hampshire was arrested by police, questioned and released under investigation in October 2017.

The coroner at his inquest ruled that social media posts by the vigilante group were a “causative factor” in his suicide.

'I can't imagine viewing those images again': Sex offender tells ITV News of rehabilitation therapy
Paedophile jailed after sending explicit messages to vigilantes posing as 13-year-old girl

Online groups’ activities have split opinion in policing circles, with some chiefs warning of “significant risks” that arise from paedophile hunters’ tactics.

These can include posing as children online to lure in suspects and set up real-world encounters in order to expose them.

Some police fear that the groups’ actions could interfere with surveillance operations, while the evidence they gather may not be of a high enough standard to use for prosecution.

Former police chief Jim Gamble told the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse in early 2018 that masquerading as a child online should become a criminal offence to deter vigilante stings.

But Paddy Tipping, the police and crime commissioner for Nottinghamshire, told a police and crime panel in April last year that police in his area should try to form “better relationships” with vigilante groups.

Figures obtained by the BBC showed that evidence from paedophile hunters was used to charge suspects on at least 150 occasions in 2017.

Mr Bailey said a colleague had described to him how one referral from a group can take a working day to investigate, time that could have been spent identifying half a dozen offenders.

He added: “So many of these groups’ drivers are about seeking infamy through the number of hits they get, the number of likes they get, the number of people that view their live streams.

“My mission is to safeguard children. There’s a world of difference.”

The chief constable said there has never been so much commentary and awareness around child abuse, but urged vigilantes to leave it “to the experts”.

He warned: “Never before have the chances of being caught been so high.

“And for people that are doing it, they will be going to bed every night, I hope, fearing the knock on the door in the morning.”

Last updated Sat 11 May 2019