Political trolls

Dave Achondo

FIRST, this will be my first ever piece for an opinion page in any media platform so please bear with me.

I would like to thank all of you who managed to reach this far especially the Internet trolls who are waiting for me to screw up. I enjoy speaking my mind, and what better way to fan out my thoughts than in a newspaper.

Let’s begin with political trolls! There are different types of trolls online and one of them is the political troll who focuses on politics and post information, true or false. As long as it impacts negatively on someone’s credibility and integrity, they are happy campers. They are no good at all, and are like kids pretending to be purveyors of knowledge and truth.

Political trolls are the “best” and “perfect people.” They are the “most perfect” and “well-mannered” people in the world (sarcasm). They know everything there is to know (Misters Know it All). They will never commit any mistake because they are right and you are dead wrong. They will defend you with all their wit (for a price). They are the bravest people you’ll ever know (cowards), and will stand up for a particular person and for their beliefs yet they hide behind false names. Yes, lapdogs.

The election has ended but still, trolls remain rampant with their bountiful information sourced from god-knows-where, and dirt against their targets. Masked behind good-looking foreigners or a luscious celebrity, they attack like ninjas in the shadows of the Internet.

They will talk trash and continue to pollute the minds of gullible fanatics who share the same views, and will bash you left and right if you go against them (you’ll find a lot of them in Duterte’s fan pages) bashing away on people who do not worship the incoming President.

But trolls are scared little rascals behind keyboards who are pretty much afraid of sharing information using their own identity. They leave in a world wherein they think they are doing a noble job by misinforming, twisting facts, and peddling fiction in a world where reason does not exist, where their words are far greater than God’s, and where right and wrong do not seem to be registered in their minds.

What made me write about these lowlife scumbags is how they relentlessly bash others in the name of their puppet masters, leaving a trail of nonsense as its aftermath.

I know some people (people who do not hide their identities) who reacted to posts on Facebook without getting into the details. It starts as a healthy conversation at first but then trolls start coming with their memes, they mess everything up. The thread ends with a fury, with everyone bashing one another.

And just because these people share the same ideas and were intrigued by the information given by these trolls it does not give anyone any right to make fun of any person. I’m not being a saint; I have my fair share of wrong posts myself but I don’t hide it, and I don’t hide my name like these cowards.

Some people are fixated and intrigued with the information given by these trolls (sad souls). But here’s a tip for you if you come across them online: there is no point in bending their thoughts to reason anymore and so, don’t even bother because they won’t budge.

Have you ever been in a political FB group? You’ll see members throwing dirt and reposting them. Another reason why I despise trolls is partly due to a particular photo of a woman posted by a troll. She was labeled as a home wrecker, a politician’s mistress, and a gold digger. Meanwhile, the supporters and the trolls were so happy bashing the poor woman. People with decency tried to defend her but were bashed as well for doing the right thing. I may not be an attorney but I sure as hell know that what they did was not right, and is against laws and women’s rights. It was straight up cyberbullying.

Why can’t they just argue about politics and leave the personal crap out of it? Better yet, why don’t they show some guts and show their faces. Are their faces that ugly?

Anyway, it is OK to agree and disagree on social media. We have the freedom to do so, and nobody can stop you if you want to go against everyone who ridicules your trapo, and start an intellectual war (something that relates to the topic and makes sense). But don’t act as if you’re invincible and godlike who can’t be corrected. It should be an intellectual debate without gibberish memes.

One thing I noticed is, no matter what color you were during the election period, each side had trolls who were hiding behind their monitors, feeding mythical and exaggerated information, and they continue to do so while you are reading this.