Dealing with personal attacks on social media?

[Croconaw]

I’ve noticed when people post a simple opinion, regardless of what it is, some people will go out of their way to look on their profiles and use personal attacks like insulting their appearance or their interests. I understand some of these people are just trolls, but I’m wondering how you cope with it?

I personally don’t even use social media that much due to the negativity surrounding it. I find that those of us that still use forums are much more mature and are able to have adult discussions without using personal attacks. When people go out of their way to view a person’s profile to find something to insult them about, it says more about the troll than the victim. I personally just end up blocking them.

I’m wondering how you personally handle this if you’ve had similar experiences? It doesn’t have to necessarily be in regards to social media, as this can happen in general.

 

[Red Cat]

In the upper right corner of your browser, there's a button with an "X" on it. Click on it. Problem solved.

 

[John Wick]

Trolls and their enablers are the lowest form of scum online.

Just know that you're better than that.

 

[Faceless]

I just remove them from my life the best I can. There's no need for negativity as harsh as personal attacks in today's day and age

 

[MikkiC306]

I see personal attacks as a person losing the battle. If a person has to come at me with such a flimsy defense as attacking me on a personal level then they've run out of good, solid information to use against me. Which means I'm winning. And I love winning.

I deleted my social media for this reason and often times see it as a negative for humans as a whole. The internet was better without social media in my opinion.

How I handled it? Kept going at them with fact after fact, logic after logic, dwelled on it way longer than any human really should, typed many nasty rude responses just to delete them then not sleep for several nights over it. Finally my fiancé couldn't take it anymore and made me delete my stuff haha. I'm very passionate about some things. A lot of things.

 

[tumut]

I would make fun of them and see how jaded they can get. I love a little chaos and toxicity.

Probably better just to ignore them tho

 

[Seastar]

I did have some similar things happen before.
I'd say either block them or leave the website they are bothering you on.

 

[Violet Witch]

Someone on Tumblr tried to "cancel" me once because they thought I was copying their blog all because as our content was similar. They went as far as writing a massive post about me with so called "evidence" of me copying them. I got some very nasty comments from their loyal followers telling me I should delete my blog and that I was nothing more than a thief, it got so bad I had to turn off all forms of messaging for a few days. I removed myself from the situation as best as I could but when the allegation came up again a few months later wrote a response back on my blog and I never had another issue with the blogger again.

 

[Marte]

As Mikki said earlier in the thread, if people starts the personal attack it means they are losing (in my eyes). If you feel the need to take someone down as a person in your argument then it's not something you should even consider dealing with. If this happens I just end the discussion. No need to drag others down just to get your point across.

 

[Xara]

i definitely agree with others that blocking the user/s and removing yourself from the situation is the best thing you can do but also, it’s perfectly okay and valid to feel hurt by attacks made, even if they’re just on the internet. people can be brutal at times and even the most basic of insults can hurt and it’s perfectly okay to feel those feelings.

however, it’s important to remember that hurtful people don’t matter and that at the end of the day, their opinion doesn’t matter. as long as you’re a good person who’s doing their best, that’s all that matters and screw what anyone else thinks.

 

[Nicole.]

I just remove them from my life the best I can. There's no need for negativity as harsh as personal attacks in today's day and age

Completely agree with you, removing them is probably the best solution. I think retaliating will only make the situation worse, I know that some people do feel better at fighting back though.

 

[Midoriya]

Not necessarily on social media, but in the past I’ve dealt with this, and I used to fight back... until I realized fighting back is pointless. Nowadays I just ignore and/or block immediately. I don’t have time to deal with that. Also, when someone insults me personally after we’ve had a healthy debate, they end up losing all credibility with me since I know I have great character.

 

[idiotdoomspiral]

trolls dont care if youre right or wrong theyre fishing for a reaction from you so ignoring/blocking them is usually the best thing to do

 

[-Lumi-]

Honestly I just don't engage much on social media. The Bell Tree is probably the most active place online I'm a part of. For the most part I just browse other sites and keep to myself since it doesn't seem worth it to get into arguments with people online. Any kind of confrontation makes me really uneasy so I do my best to keep out of it.

If somebody was actively arguing with me and trying to attack me I would just block them. Out of sight out of mind, sort of thing.

I really do love how kind The Bell Tree is! It took me a while to feel really comfy commenting as much as I do and there are still places I avoid since I don't feel like I'd be a good fit but as a whole The Bell Tree is so wonderful. I'm always reminded of that if I ever delve into YouTube comments, or Twitter threads, or even Instagram comments. I prefer to just keep to myself and use The Bell Tree instead!

 

[oranje]

Honestly I just don't engage much on social media. The Bell Tree is probably the most active place online I'm a part of. For the most part I just browse other sites and keep to myself since it doesn't seem worth it to get into arguments with people online. Any kind of confrontation makes me really uneasy so I do my best to keep out of it.

If somebody was actively arguing with me and trying to attack me I would just block them. Out of sight out of mind, sort of thing.

I really do love how kind The Bell Tree is! It took me a while to feel really comfy commenting as much as I do and there are still places I avoid since I don't feel like I'd be a good fit but as a whole The Bell Tree is so wonderful. I'm always reminded of that if I ever delve into YouTube comments, or Twitter threads, or even Instagram comments. I prefer to just keep to myself and use The Bell Tree instead!

Yup, I'm the same way. When I was younger, I used to be a part of tumblr and a few other social media sites but there was just too much in-fighting and negativity, so I just bounced out. And honestly, I'm happier for it. I keep myself busy with hobbies like gardening, writing, and reading and try to find new ones that spark my interests. It is harder now because of the pandemic to limit social media but I think it's not great for mental health regardless.

 

[amemome]

wow that's so horrible, low, and scummy. I always have my accounts locked/private to prevent random people from attacking me... it's an instant block if someone insults me. I also try to keep my unlocked accounts extremely neutral. I keep my polarizing opinions on my locked accounts.

 

[ting1984]

I got rid of Facebook last year because of all the political mud-slinging, and I don't miss it. I spend less time these days on forums and other Internet social sites, especially ones where religion and politics are heavily discussed, and I'm happier because of it. Remember, these people don't know you, don't speak to you face to face...it's not worth the frustration to engage.

 

[LuchaSloth]

It's better to just not post on anything that is a public story. Whatever your opinion is, people will look to drag you for it. Either that, or the bots will respond and try to sell you a scam. On Facebook, I only interact with my friends these days. Even then, I'm mostly just sharing photos and links to things I enjoy. Maybe an occasional observation or joke. In a lot of ways, I just treat Facebook as a journal for myself to remember things I might want to check back on later. I'm not trying to impress anyone, or tell anyone what they should be doing. I'm usually like "here's a thing...you can like it if you want, but it's mostly for me." Lol.

 

[Nefarious]

Numb yourself with constant self-deprecating humor that everything else no longer fazes you.

Seriously though, blocking/ignoring immediately is the best option. I hardly do this though because acting like you can't even see them pisses them off even more. They'll eventually give up trying to get your attention.

 

[VanitasFan26]

I have to constantly block that person who attacked me or on this site "Ignore" them. Its hard not to do this because I know in the future it will happen again no matter what I do.