Nefertari Williams: Trolls Have Tells

It’s election season again and the buzz seems to be that foreign interference is on the rise. 

 

I see it daily in social media. A post may start out as an innocent comment and then boom, someone jumps in to make a racist comment and that changes the direction of the chain. 

 

I have even found myself feeling my blood boil just a little bit – wait (me talking to myself) look again. Trolls! Some just spend their days trying to tear this country apart- but if you pay close attention sometimes you can tell who they are. 

 

I was reading a post  about a new women’s basketball team player who grew a lot of attention when she was on her college team. She happens to be white and her stats weren’t amazing for her first professional game.

 

It happens! I then noticed the vitriol and cruelty in the comments. They were coming from about three different profiles but one thing stood out. The misspelling of the same words, the same grammatical errors and the way they referenced the team. We as Americans talk about sporting teams a certain way and all three accounts kept making this error. This informed that this was:

 

1. All the same person

2. Deliberately trying to stir up a racist debate. 

3. Deliberately poking at our racial vulnerabilities 

 

I called them out but they ignored my accusation and kept digging in with their racist rants. At one point – they were only chatting with themselves just to keep the feed going and “bumped” to the top of the thread. 

 

 

I believe as a country our first instinct should be to stay away from  comments that don’t feel good. You gain nothing by feeding into the lies and deception. 

 

While the Troll was probably sitting back laughing as hundreds of Americans made harsh, harmful comments to each other due to the chaos that they’ve started, they are successfully unraveling years of unity that this country has prided itself on building. 

 

Another suggestion would be to remember basic concepts that may sound silly but we were taught in pre-school and Sunday school. Phrases like “if you don’t have anything nice to say – say nothing at all” are powerful. Following this basic “rule” can eliminate so much turmoil and anger. I won’t dare say “Love thy neighbor” I know that’s a stretch.

 

Bottom line is we must try to make it through this non traditional election season – this time – without losing friends, family and neighbors. In the end we all must accept the results and try to remember the reason this country’s founders tried someone new. 

 

Plato wrote “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”

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