I have a problem!
And after discussing this problem with a few others at Greenbelt (particular thanks to @gurdur and @FrDavidCloake) it seems that I am the only one who has this problem! Or at least I am the only one who has not sorted it out.
The problem goes something like this: I post things on my blog, Facebook status and Twitter stream and some people (Trolls) choose to use that opportunity to write aggressive, unhelpful and/or derogatory comments (also known as flaming). What do I do about that?
My answer has been to leave the comment on my blog or facebook for all the world to see and just feel a bit wounded by it. The result is that I am then put off from my digital life because I feel a tad bruised and go into digital silence for a while.
The answer by others is to moderate and delete those comments that they believe are not helpful and/or offensive.
But why is this a problem for me?
I guess (and I know this is the topic of many social media conversations) that it boils down to two questions:
- Who do I think I (digitally) am?
- What kind of space have I (virtually) created?
For me the joy of social media is to dialogue, learn and grow alongside those who are different to me. Some might think that the internet is no place to experience alterity, but for me, otherness is a digital reality. So just because someone is other to me is no reason to delete them from my comments stream in fact the opposite is true – I grow in their presence. But the real issue is what (virtual) space that dialogue occurs.
Is it the equivalent to my living room? Where I invite strangers (both those I don’t know and those who are different (strange) to me) in order to have a conversation and learn and grow together … but if they overstep the mark, dominate the conversation, insult me or other guests, or behave in a way that threatens and makes others in the room feel uncomfortable – then I can throw them out.
Or is it the equivalent of the pub? Where I am a guest in someone else’s space alongside others who I do or do not know to have a conversation about those things that interest us all. In this environment everyone has a greater freedom of expression and if I feel uncomfortable with another I either leave or move somewhere else.
So is my blog a public space? Or a personal space?
Then, of course, there is the issue of digital identity. Who am I online? And does that bear any resemblance to my offline life? This becomes pertinent when there are those that we include in one part of our digital life but not another. So should my Twitter and Facebook be linked? Or am I one person in one stream and another somewhere else? Should my blog relate to the whole of me or just a specific part of me? Or should I hide parts of me in specific social media space in order not to entice a troll? I had a good chat with @RWileECoyote about the merits of unlinking Facebook from Twitter and I have heard a number of comments around the Facebook vs Google + vs Twitter conversation that suggest people use different platforms for different things. Does that make my life manageable in small bite sizes I can handle or does it add to a sense of fragmented self – a fractured truth. If I am being flamed by a troll on my blog ought I invite them into my G+, Twitter and Facebook world too? or should I say ‘I don’t want you in any part of my digital life?’
This gets more complicated when I remember my sense of calling to pioneer ministry. In this ministry I long to be in the presence of others who are different to me and I make a commitment to being alongside those I don’t like and those who don’t like me (or at least don’t get me) with the offer that, if they do get me, they might want to journey with me. Hardly possible if I delete trolls out of existence in my digital life.
So what is your digital space? Public? Private? A third space? Do you use different platforms to show different sides of the virtual you? and are #digidisciples called to be amongst those who are (digitally) unattractive and difficult? or ought we to delete them into the fiery furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth?
From 2010–2015, the BigBible Project sought to host conversations about the Bible through local reading groups & online conversations. Since 2016, the project has taken a slightly different focus, hosting discussion from experts on Biblical Literacy and Biblical Reception in a Digital World. 
Except where otherwise noted, content on this site is licensed under a 
Facebook and Twitter trolls are interesting creatures. What are you saying to your networks of contacts that causes them to go on the rampage? Does it mean – perhaps? – that you are misjudging your audience, and posting messages that would only make sense to a group from your own Christian tradition? It’s possible – I’ve definitely seen flamewars erupt in Facebook over that kind of misunderstanding. There are other possibilities, but that’s worth considering.
In general, you need to engage with trolls and trouble-makers without undermining the purpose of your space. Let the trolls take over, and you’ll be unable to hold positive and interesting conversations with believers and seekers. Block everyone who disagrees with you, and seekers won’t be able to get in at all. Finding the right balance is always difficult.
I also think that some people consider “trolls” those who do not go into automatic agreement with the stated party line of the group. The internets have turned into a bit of an echo chamber and lots of stuff is posted about how “stupid” one group is or implies how superior “we” are to another group. I often count my self as part of those groups but I’m not much of a joiner especially if I think that there is some weak intellectual superiority and self inflation going on in those posts. I am respectful, but challenging. And if you want to call me a “troll” because I am not going to go along with easy “we’re better than they are” thinking, then call me a troll. Hell, you may even delete this post. If you do, I must have hit a nerve and you may want to re-think your ideas of freedom of speech. If not, then all rebuttals are welcome 😉
Thanks Tim and Michael.
Tim – I think your right! I have unlinked my twitter and Facebook account for that reason. But it sits uneasily with my understanding of whole life discipleship and my desire for a unified (rather than fragmented) sense of self. It also raises the question of the prophetic in digital space – what does it look like to be a digital prophet? And what sort of response should one expect?
Michael – I don’t think your a troll 🙂 You are right – we need to be very careful how we define a troll As I said in my post – I love alternative ideas and I have many who engage with me who clearly don’t think as I do (I am a self confessed lefty on the political spectrum and have great conversations with a friend who is a signed up member of the Tory party – we never agree but the conversation is great!). I guess I’m more uncomfortable with those who are delibaretly rude, disrespectful, and/or hurtful.
All that said – I’m still figuring out if and when I’ve been flamed and what to do with it if I am! Thank you for helping me work through it.
Great post vxfhanley – or may I call you ‘vx’? 😉
It’s a fine balance, in general I agree with your final point about not banishing people who are ‘digitally unattractive’ so we only deal with those we find pleasant and agreeable.
However there is a resource issue – if you’re running your own site, people are using your bandwidth vent their rage with whatever it it that’s angering them, and even if it’s a social networking site that you don’t pay for, it takes time and mental energy to respond.
I recently signed a petition and posted it to my Facebook page. When I do that it’s just really giving it a bit of publicity, I don’t expect people to agree with me necessarily. However this time someone decided to argue with me about whether it was worth signing. Then someone who is very friendly with the first person posted his views – which were actually contradicting the first person, because they often have little spats in public. Then a third person who knows me but not them joined in agreeing with the first person that it was pointless signing the petition and it wouldn’t do any good and anyway it wasn’t a very good cause.
I felt quite annoyed by this and started writing quite a scathing reply to the third person, justifying my signing of the petition, then I thought ‘You know what?’ (as Simon Cowell would say) ‘I signed it, I posted it for info and in case anyone else wanted to sign it, I am not answerable to the two guys who disagree with me, if the guys who like having fights want a fight they can do it on their own pages, it’s not important enough for me to enter into a debate about it, and I don’t want this sort of stuff on my page in case other people start doing it’. So I deleted it.