Trolling Immunity Oath
If you spend enough time in the support chat rooms (or anywhere on the internet for that matter!) it is quite possible that you will encounter someone or other engaging in trolling behaviours. Should this happen to you, first and foremost please know its not your fault. The other person has the problem. Often, they just get a kick out of upsetting or aggravating another person, but it only works if we rise to take the bait.
There are certain things we can do as a community to build more immunity against those individuals who choose to cause distress or annoyance to others, and many of you are doing a great job at it already! The key thing to remember is that without an audience reacting to their comments and remarks, the person trolling becomes quite powerless. Its just no fun yelling at someone who doesnt seem to notice! This isnt to say the burden is entirely on you, but that we can work together to become more immune to trolling and help to protect one another. The other important part to this is to use the mute/report button to report any harmful/trolling behaviour you witness. This helps community managers to identify and remove those individuals.
The process when you encounter trolling behaviour should look like this:
⛔️ Stop engaging ---> 🔇 Mute the troublecauser ---> 📝 Report via mute/report button.
If youd like to be part of this initiative to take a stand against trolling, please carefully read the following oath and then post it in this thread with your own username/current date. You will receive an Group Chat Antibody badge for doing so (coming soon!). You can simply copy and paste the oath, but its more meaningful if you type it out. :)
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I, XX, pledge :
To follow the chat room rules and lead by example at all times.
To not interact directly with anyone engaging in hurtful behaviours in the support room and encourage others to follow my lead.
To report harmful behaviours whenever I see them in the support room, whether they be directed at myself or a fellow member.
To understand that muting and ignoring are my most powerful weapons against those who aim to cause distress and harm, and to remind others of the same.
To use my mute button whenever necessary, to disempower those who aim to cause harm, and to protect myself.
To respect other users' decision to mute, and never disrespect their boundaries by relaying messages.
Signed: [your username]
DD/MM/YYYY
@heather
Signed.
In reality the 'Trolling' is being carried out by a handful of individuals. This is just in one room. Someone who has been 'banned' from the site, wrongly in my opinion, has 3/4 copycats posting in their style. They are 'very pale imitations' indeed. Everyone who posts in the Chatrooms has a very unique style. The person who has been banned gets a daily mention by different individuals in the Chatrooms, when they are not even on the site.
This is a recent 'classic' line from a serial abuser of the Guidelines/Rules, 'they must of banned me when I was sleeping'.
@Heather One missing element: Respecting others' decision to mute. What I frequently see happening is A mutes B, and when B realizes this has happened, B asks other people in the room to tell A various things. With a lot of people in the room, or people sympathetic to B present, the result is that A still winds up being forced to hear from B.
So I think a part of this pledge should also include respecting others' choices not to engage by agreeing not to relay messages on behalf of others (no matter how innocent or well-meaning they may appear).
I agree with this one wholehearted. I have an individual who constantly does this and it irritates me to no end.
I fully support this pledge to end trolling and harmful and hurtful behavior.
-ImFinallyFree
I, Jess, pledge;
To follow the chat room rules and lead by example at all times.
To not interact directly with anyone engaging in hurtful behaviours in the support room and encourage others to follow my lead.
To report harmful behaviours whenever I see them in the support room, whether they be directed at myself or a fellow member.
To understand that muting and ignoring are my most powerful weapons against those who aim to cause distress and harm, and to remind others of the same.
To use my mute button whenever necessary, to disempower those who aim to cause harm, and to protect myself.
To respect other users' decision to mute, and never disrespect their boundaries by relaying messages.
Signed: Jessicka
11/06/2016
I, redkite4725, pledge :
To follow the chat room rules and lead by example at all times.
To not interact directly with anyone engaging in hurtful behaviours in the support room and encourage others to follow my lead.
To report harmful behaviours whenever I see them in the support room, whether they be directed at myself or a fellow member.
To understand that muting and ignoring are my most powerful weapons against those who aim to cause distress and harm, and to remind others of the same.
To use my mute button whenever necessary, to disempower those who aim to cause harm, and to protect myself.
To respect other users' decision to mute, and never disrespect their boundaries by relaying messages.
Signed: redkite4725
11/06/2016
I, Celaeno, pledge :
- to follow the chat room rules and lead by example at all times;
- to not interact directly with anyone engaging in hurtful behaviours in the support room and encourage others to follow my lead;
- to report harmful behaviours whenever I see them in the support room, whether they be directed at myself or a fellow member;
- to understand that muting and ignoring are my most powerful weapons against those who aim to cause distress and harm, and to remind others of the same;
- to use my mute button whenever necessary, to disempower those who aim to cause harm, and to protect myself;
- to respect other users' decision to mute, and never disrespect their boundaries by relaying messages.
Signed: Celaeno
12/06/2016
I admin a large group on FB that is an advocacy and education group. We deal with trolls also. My favorite expression is "don't feed the trolls". Don't give them an audience and don't walk into their traps. Be the stronger voice and lead the way on the higher road.
I, Kemoctezumaso, pledge :
To follow the chat room rules and lead by example at all times.
To not interact directly with anyone engaging in hurtful behaviours in the support room and encourage others to follow my lead.
To report harmful behaviours whenever I see them in the support room, whether they be directed at myself or a fellow member.
To understand that muting and ignoring are my most powerful weapons against those who aim to cause distress and harm, and to remind others of the same.
To use my mute button whenever necessary, to disempower those who aim to cause harm, and to protect myself.
Signed: Kemoctezumaso
12/June/2016
I, ladylazarus1971, pledge :
To follow the chat room rules and lead by example at all times.
To not interact directly with anyone engaging in hurtful behaviours in the support room and encourage others to follow my lead.
To report harmful behaviours whenever I see them in the support room, whether they be directed at myself or a fellow member.
To understand that muting and ignoring are my most powerful weapons against those who aim to cause distress and harm, and to remind others of the same.
To use my mute button whenever necessary, to disempower those who aim to cause harm, and to protect myself.
To respect other users' decision to mute, and never disrespect their boundaries by relaying messages.
Signed:
ladylazarus1971
06/13/2016
Thank you for a positive way to reinforce for all members the best ways to support our community against "trolling" behaviors. <3
We, wearelost444 pledge:
ღ To follow the chatroom rules and lead by example at all times.
ღ To not interact directly with anyone engaging and hurtful behaviors in the support room and encourage others to follow our lead.
ღ To report harmful behaviours whenever we see them in the support room, whether they be directed at ourselves or a fellow member.
ღ To understand that muting and ignoring are our most powerful weapons against those who aim to cause distress and harm, and to remind others of the same.
ღ To use our mute button whenever necessary, to disempower those who aim to cause harm, and to protect ourselves.
Signed: wearelost444 /(Host)Monika.
