What Drives The Internet Trolls?

Understanding Internet Trolls

As my social presence has grown, astonishingly so in some ways, so have the negative comments I get daily.

Over 99% of comments are lovely, playful, sometimes naughty, sometimes downright filthy. All good.

But that one in a hundred toxic comment means that I am check all the time.

Here’s some patterns I have noticed. I am sure you have too.  

First, being based in London, UK, I often wake to some special messages from our fundamentalist Christian friends in America. Why they cling to bizarre ideas like, clothing is inherently evil if worn by the ‘wrong’ sex, or that I am remotely interested in how I can be saved if I change my ways, well it’s really kinda sad. It seems like religion does spawn the most extreme intolerance in what I hope is a minority.

I have engaged in conversations a couple of times, and mostly it’s gone well.

I usually take the track of ‘I too like to follow the path of Jesus as he was such an amazing teacher, but when I looked, it seems like he didn’t have an opinion on crosdressers, trans, gays etc. Further, I like to live by his teaching, ‘let he who have no sin cast the first stone,’ (and I definitely have sinned). So I am not about to judge you.

To be fair, the conversation is often one where people seem to want to build bridges. It seems that once we get to know each other, the ‘live and let live’ idea flourishes. It seems even for the most hateful and toxic of people, as soon as we connect as humans, 90% of the arguments dissipate.

The second group, sadly, are not so considered.

Usually these are men. Usually they have a private account (of course). Usually they  one or no posts. Usually they have less than ten followers.

These people seem incapable of any rational thought. I don’t think they are bots. I do think they are generally of a lower IQ. Sorry, don’t mean to judge, just understand.  

I delete their comments. I don’t engage with them. They usually don’t come back.

Again, I am left feeling sad.

As much as I want to be angry at these people, I get the sense that they are trapped in ideology they have inherited from parents, family and their community, and they don’t have the necessary skills to escape the obvious problems to those of us outside of it, and this manifests in a kind of hate and anger at so much.

We, the queers (I use the term in the broadest of senses and with the deepest of love) are easy targets, and they get to feel morally and culturally superior, placing us lower than themselves on their own invented hierarchy.

I hope they do find love. They could do with some kinky sex I am sure.  

I suspect most wont have the courage to show up to this opportunity even if it lands in their laps.

And so every few days, I will trawl as many posts as I can to weed out those hateful comments and delete them. Hopefully one day the algorithm will stop sending them our way.

Then again, maybe (and I suspect this is true), they are looking for it.

I wonder why?

Jenny Raven
www.JennyRaven.com

Jenny has faced this firsthand — read about her four Instagram bans. The crossdresser community she builds is in the 2025 Survey.