Every now and then, us bloggers ask ourselves why we write this stuff and we all spend a bit of introspective time coming up with various personal reasons. Some of them are even truthful.
I have been lately wondering why some people don't have their own blog, preferring to spend a lot of time repeatedly leaving comments on the blogs of people they don't seem to like. I am talking about the people whose profiles and identities are completely hidden (as opposed to partially hidden like mine and most other people's). Most of the sniper's comments would be enough to amply fill their own blog, but they stay in the shadows out of harm's way, tediously popping up all the time to cause trouble before slinking off to their dens.
The professional ones stay just on the right side of the law by using double-meanings, fake flattery followed by personal attacks and then more fake flattery again. If they get deleted then they go to other people's sites and carry on the argument from there, in the knowledge that they will survive for a while before the host gets fed up with them. One told me last year that she knows where I live even unto my postcode, but quickly realised she was treading on very thin ice and turned it into a 'joke'. I know what to do about stalkers. I have done it in the past to two different people with far more serious mental problems than a mere troll. My method involves police.
If they talk about themselves at all, then it is usually all lies. Some seem to be running four or five different professional careers at the same time - it is a wonder that they find the time to comment at all, let alone as often as they do.
They all have one thing in common - they are humourless bores. This is probably why they don't have their own blogs. Nobody would read them.
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DeleteThis pisses me off. Mental illness is no excuse.
DeleteUnemployment is a real possibility. Who else has as much free time to make trouble?
DeleteApart from all of the above applying to me, I am not too happy about you using my blog as a counselling service for someone who has - up to now- left me alone!
DeleteApologies.
DeleteMental illness where delusional thinking is common is an excuse for some behaviour as although it doesn't mitigate the severity of the behaviour or indeed crime it means that IN SOME CASES the perpetrator is not in full control of themselves and are not making rational decisions
DeleteWell you picked the WRONG CASE.
DeleteI hadn't picked ANY case
DeleteActually, you did John. I didn't intend this post to spark off some other controversy, rather it to be a cathartic de-briefing for why I had to take a little break from it recently.
DeleteOne of the reasons I took the holiday was because I am no longer in full control of my own blog - I mean you can no longer block people without blocking anyone else - and as I explained above, some people find a loophole provided by people like you in order to continue stirring up trouble by being allowed to attack others on other people's posts. Not just attack, but often just comment - even after everyone involved is aware that I made it clear to one that I wanted the agreement that she leave me alone and I will do her the favour of leaving her alone in return.
Then you choose the wrong person to refer to here and risk bringing someone in who has nothing to do with it, thereby potentially inviting a brand new pain in the arse to come looking for me.
I expected the subject of my complaint to leave a 400 word rant here, and she did. It was cathartic for me to delete her, because she is a PAIN IN THE FUCKING ARSE WHO DOES NOT TAKE 'GO AWAY' FOR A RESPONSE'.
It should not be rocket-science for someone of your understanding, should it?
"It should not be rocket-science for someone of your understanding, should it?"
DeleteCheers for that
Don't flounce. Be gracious.
DeleteI suspect "chloe" (aka "mia") is actually male. I've thought so for a while now. I also wonder if he/she/it is also a known blogger operating under a second, anonymous profile.
ReplyDeleteIt isn't me...honest. I am none of the above.
DeleteJennifer: It is more to do with retirement than unemployment. Some people cannot cope with the modern freedom that old age brings. The person you mention is far more concerned with Britain's exit from the E.U. than anything else. This is why I haven't been singled out for attention - yet. Bear that in mind.
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ReplyDeleteI didnt say it was a mental illness Yael , my point was delusional thinking can come from mental ill health and therefore trolling can be a symptom of this ill health , I do think that this is the reason of trolling in only a minority of cases though.
DeleteIt is not fucking loneliness either.
DeleteSorry Yael. Lots of people are lonely but they don't turn into trolls.
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DeleteMy " history" shouldn't be brought up here
DeleteApologies.
DeleteI am guessing like every body else,i don't know.
ReplyDeleteNobody needs to know except me. Treat it generally.
DeleteAs I gave the "Durch hermit crab" for some time (had to!), I only saw that your blog was not existent for a while, Tom, and wondered. Now I know why - and hope that your spooky problem is by now solved? I try to keep in mind what my English friend Stephen Russell made a song about: "What you focus on grows" - but have to admit that I am not always able to ignore such annoyances.
ReplyDeleteSometimes it can be entertaining, but mostly it is as boring as what started it.
DeleteTheir need for attention is satisfied by jumping onto other people's blogs where they are guaranteed readers. I'll bet if we ignore them they will eventually slink off.
ReplyDeleteYou would be amazed at how thick their skins are.
DeleteEven when I was a few rungs higher on the intellectual ladder, Tom, I hadn't made it yet to yours.That's what keeps me wherever I am on all the blogging ladders. There is so much to know and new things to understand. To me it is past rudeness to mess with a third party on another blog. I have done it twice that I know of. I also know that in spite of my apology, and promise to never do it again, I've changed the perception of myself in the eyes and esteem of the blog owner. That makes me feel personally diminished and a rung lower.
ReplyDeleteI like your blog; I learn from your intellect and from your demeanor. I learn from all the commenters you attract and all the replies you supply. I regret there are ill mannered folks who drop around. When I was a kid, walking home from school, they were the sort we crossed the street to avoid. I don't know the modern solution.
That's my opinion for today. Over, out.
You would not believe what I have learned from you, Joanne. There is a fashion in this country for people who have suffered the quick-fire series of misfortunes that you have to be called something like 'battling', 'inspirational' or some other shite, as if you were just going to lay down and give up, leaving your grand daughters to fend for themselves.
ReplyDeleteMy God - you are a hero to most people I know who have read you, especially after the red bus incident which left you - on top of the stroke - struggling for the words which you put together so eloquently every day.
You said that you would miss me if I left here for good, but not half as much as I would miss you. I feel the same way about Weave too. I have a lot to learn.
Thanks, Tom.
DeleteI suspect that such folk have been recipients of bullying in their pasts. This is their response, made available by technology.
ReplyDeleteIt's probably related to the way some people become more rude and aggressive when driving.
DeleteI hope I'm not an intruder because of not having my own blog, Tom. I like reading my favourite blogs and comment on them because it's the least I can do to show my apprrciation.
ReplyDeleteGreetings Maria x
Of course not Maria! Some people only want to read - quite alot it seems.
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ReplyDeleteYour blog is even nastier than your comments. I got about halfway down and had enough.
DeleteI will say this once more - go away and don't come back.
What does it take to make you realise that I don't actually like you? Am I supposed to like you? Is there a reason why I should?
If you reply to this comment, I will - again - delete you and this, and I will delete everything else you ever put up in the future without explanation, just as I normally do.
You remind me of The Life of Brian film: "How shall we fuck off?"
You are a troubled pain in the arse who I am utterly sick of, as is everyone else.
I will never understand the nastiness of trolls. Are they seeking much needed attention with their contrary remarks or are they just awful people. It must be hard to be them.
ReplyDeleteThere are much easier lives to be lead by just being kind - not that I always am kind. Far from it.
DeleteI am just so pleased no one bothers to comment on my blog... so bloody boring I suppose? Added to which I am doing it for my own enjoyment. A win-win for me: I bet so many bloggers get caught up in looking all the time for comments and along the way lose the joy in what is after all an indulgent practice.
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