How to counter a Troll

A few weeks ago, while I was going home with a friend, we had a discussion on how people react during conflict. My friend brought up how when he asked my brother what he would do, my brother said he'd simply give up and just let people hear what they wanna hear. Which is true. Whenever me and my brother argue, he just skips the argument part. It's his way or the highway. Arguing with him means you already lost. You gave him attention and continued to argue when he decided it wasn't worth it anymore. I still do argue with him nonetheless. 

There was this one time though, where he was the one picking the fight. We were kids at the time and he kept annoying me. So I cried. Dad then took me to the side, and told me that I win by ignoring him. So I did. I ignored him, and it pissed him off so much that he started slipping up. And when he slipped up, he lost.

This will be relevant for what I'm about to talk about.

Back in 2023, when tragedy struck and the genocide of palestenians spread all over the internet. One idiot in a suit appeared to steal everyone's energy and money. Piers Morgan. 

For the better part of a year or so, Piers would ask the same stupid questions. 

"Do you condemn Hamas?"

"Is what Israel's doing a proportionate response?"

"Do you condemn beheaded babies?"

The last question in particular made me want to pull out my hairs. Over and over again he'd repeat confirmed israeli lies, despite them being publicly debunked. 

I wasn't the only one upset at his bizarro bullshit. So, eventually people decided to start a movement to boycott him. "Boycott Piers Morgan"

Now this angered Piers so much that he resorted to being a baby. 

 

Not only did he resort to the "haha I don't even know you" tactic, which if you respond, as previously stated, is already a loss. But he summoned within him a hero's complex.

 

Saying things like "I'm the only one covering the news in an unbiased manner" and "I'm the only one who reported fairly when the Iraq war happened".

 

While I don't know the legitimacy of what he said about the Iraq war. I do know this. Just because you did one thing right, doesn't mean you're immune from being wrong. 

 

That however is besides the point. If you go to Piers' Youtube channel you'll find that only his discussions on controversial topics/persons get the most views. Piers is not a journalist, Piers is a troll.

 

In case you don't know what trolling is, there's this amazing video by PJ Cobbler that talks about this very topic titled "I'm begging you to stop caring".

In it, he says that trolling is a term that comes from fishing. Trolling is, as he says "When you put bait on the (fishing) line and drag it behind your boat."

 

Piers does exactly that. He repeats stupid arguments that we already know are wrong. Which bait us into going to his videos and comments sections to argue back. But Piers is never going to listen, because he doesn't care. When you engage with him you'll feel smart. You're victorious. You know the history and the truth. You're so smart, aren't you?

 

No. You aren't. Piers' paycheck is funded by you. When you engage you put him at the front page, encouraging more people to engage. More engagements means more money. This isn't about right and wrong because no one arguing over a media platform wants to know right from wrong. They usually want money or fame. Spreading awareness nowadays is difficult because rarely will you find someone who browses on anything to be educated. ESPECIALLY on websites like Instagram, TikTok or Youtube. The goal is to keep you interested so they can get the paychecks.

 

This isn't even funny. Piers' most viewed videos are when talking about trendy topics.

 

 Ah yes, 4 interviews with Andrew Tate, the guy infamously known for being the "Sexist Romanian Sex Trafficker". The same guy that earns money by doing exactly what Piers does, with a bonus of hiring prostitutes to work for him.. 

And the other interviews are about hmmmm.. Palestine, Palestine Palestine.. Oooh there's an interview with Kanye West. The man who made a song called "Nazi". 

 

Giving a platform to an idiot will not change the idiot, it only spreads his influence when the matching audience finds him. 

 

Notice how he labels the "interviews" the way a boxing match is labelled. 

"Piers vs Bassem Youssef". Really? People are dying and we vent our anger as we watch a pretend-fool repeat the same lies while Bassem Youssef goes أحا

If you know you're right, ignore the wrong. If you wanna win, ignore. The moment you engage is the moment the other side wins. 

Piers lost when he got boycotted. It hurt him so bad he had to cry about it on Twitter. Andrew Tate continues to win because we continue to talk about him.. Although, lately he fell off the surface of the internet. It seems people have grown out of his stupidity.

Stop caring, be free. More importantly, focus on what actually matters please? Let's ignore someone reacting to someone talk about Something. Let's not react. Spend your energy in the right places. The right places will never be a comment section of a bigot, a racist or a sexist. They'll be in real life, either within yourself or in your environment.

 

Anyways, be sure to check out PJ Cobbler's video. It is absolutely amazing and it was the main reason I was inspired to write this. 

 

Cheers.