Trolling on social media is a form of cyberbullying where a person posts damaging or harassing comments on social media to purposefully insult or humiliate the recipient. Trolls often use inflammatory messages to provoke emotional responses out of people, disrupting otherwise civil discussion. They may target a particular person or group, or disrupt a conversation for the sheer sake of it. Trolling can occur anywhere that has an open area where people can freely post their thoughts and opinions.

Some common characteristics of trolling include:

• Posting hateful or inappropriate content that targets others purposely or commenting virulently to someone else’s post.
• Looking to get a response, whether it’s forcing a reaction or emotionally affecting you, and then they keep pushing in that direction until it becomes impossible for you to not respond and engage into a never-ending and painful debate.
• Persistence in their behavior.

Trolling doesn’t necessarily have to occur online, but it falls under the cyberbullying umbrella when it does. Social media trolling is problematic because bullies troll their victims by knowingly posting harmful comments that embarrass or hurt others. People troll because they’re entertained by other people’s humiliation and discomfort. Anyone can be a troll, even people who seem nice in person.

If you are being trolled, there are several things you can do to deal with it. These include:

• Blocking the troll.
• Reporting the instigator to the site administrators.
• Talking to friends and family about how you are feeling.
• Focusing on creating great content instead of engaging with the troll.

It is important to remember that trolling is a form of cyberbullying and can have serious consequences for the victim.