Beware Of Trolls And Egomaniacs!

(October, 03, Geneva, Sri Lanka Guardian) Enigma, on Watergate Summer, a really genuine, caring person, has just had her first brush with trolls. I really feel for her having had a troll try to crash my blog last year. He nearly succeeded but in dealing with him I learned a great deal. Now I can give as good as I get. Even so, my partner, on a weekly basis, still exhorts me to give it away. "You get too stressed," she says.

Reading some of the comments on Enigma's site, it appears that, as well as the 'dime-a-dozen' deranged and fanatical trolls, there are paid trolls who actually earn money from destroying sites that might be becoming a little too popular or might be pressing too hard on some hot button issues or may be advocating dramatic changes to political systems or economic systems or religious institutions or who are relentlessly attacking poor, sycophantic leaders or the war-mongering politicians of imperialist countries, etc. Telling the truth does not always make you popular it seems!

But trolls are not the only blogging menace. There are also sites, usually larger ones, where the publishers who run them engage in a cat and mouse game with those who contribute, who encourage conflict, who peddle depravity or who generate posts which appeal to the lowest common denominator of humanity or to the elite. Some of these publishers are on a huge ego-trip and love the power they exert over their contributors. They give out little rewards to their favorites or, capriciously, accord light punishments or, sometimes, much more extreme measures, to those who do not play their game by their rules. Some publishers are cannibals and love nothing better than periodically eating up another blog owner or two.

Given that humans are involved in blogging and that anyone at all can set up a blog for free and virtually anyone at all can comment on a blog, blogging will always have its share of problems.

To run a blog (or even to contribute to one), it helps to have a hide like a rhino and the ability to sting like a box jellyfish when required!