Trolls and the Law of Attraction

I was recently reading a post from someone who seemed quite shocked about "all the mean people" on the Internet.

Really?

I suspect she was being just a wee bit facetious. But, it got me thinking again about the Law of Attraction - because I am not at all surprised that some people seem to attract more negative responses than others.

I try to be respectful of people and their ideas, even when those ideas are very different than my own. I find that, usually, the law of attraction prevails. If I am respectful and kind, the people I interact with - and draw to me - are also respectful and kind. If I put forth intelligent comments, I usually get intelligent conversation in return.

I've "met" many lovely, intelligent, funny and kind people online.

And then there are the trolls.

I belong to an online community: cafemom. It's a great place to interact with other moms and I've made some great cyber-friends and even a few IRL friends there. There are great conversations to be found all over cafemom.

But there are also trolls lurking under some of the bridges, too. Those folks who just like to stir up trouble for whatever reason.

They come in a variety of flavors, of course. But they are pretty easily recognizable. In fact, the clever fellow over at Flame Warriors has created a rather comprehensive catalogue of them.

Funny stuff, that.

Trolls - for whatever sad reason - think it's fun or fulfilling to push other people's buttons. You know people like this is real life, right? Well, on the Internet, their relative anonymity inspires them to even greater depths.

The most annoying are the nasty little passive-aggressive ones. They poke with their sharp little sticks then make innocent, "who me?" noises. Ick. I have more respect for the ones who act like outright bitches.

Since I, personally, have very hard-to-push buttons (unless you happen to be married to me or a blood-relative - why is it that family always push our buttons best?) trolls rarely, if ever, "get to" me.

But they do offend my sensibilities. Kind of like spiders and mosquitos. I don't bear them specific ill-will, but I don't really want like them in my personal space.

I find that ignoring trolls works remarkably well. And, when I do choose to engage one, maintaining a calm attitude can usually diffuse a situation quickly. When they can't get a rise out of you, they get bored and move on.

(This, by the way, is part of the reason for my nickname, zenmom. The other reason being my interest in Buddhism. But I maintain that I am not so much "zen" as I am "extremely rational" ... but "extremely rational mom" just doesn't have the same ring, you know?)

Anyway, back to the trolls.

I sometimes wonder at their motivation. I guess they must get some sort of satisfaction from their behavior, though I can't imagine what that would be? What pleasure is there to be found in running around tilting at random strangers on the Internet like some rabid Don Quixote? They must have very sad lives.

So, I guess the next time I run into one of these "mean people", instead of getting that eeew-there's-a-mosquito-in-the-room feeling, I should try remember that they must be very unfulfilled people, indeed. In which case, I should try to feel compassion for them.

I still plan to to ignore them. Mostly. But I will hope that one day they learn that the "secret" of finding the best in others is giving of the best of yourself.

Maybe we would all run into fewer "mean" people if we are all a little kinder to others. And if that turns out NOT to be the case, well, what have we lost by trying?