In this day and age everyone is on the Internet doing everything. Ranging from paying their bills to just posting a selfie on Instagram everyone is doing something on the Internet. Some people use the Internet responsibly, and just surf the web peacefully with other users.

Then there are the rest of the Internet users, known on the web as trolls.

Internet trolls are people who purposefully go looking for trouble online. Trolls will start arguments over trivial matters just to stir up a reaction from other users. Which creates mayhem, and can lead to cyber-bullying if gone too far.  

Most people don’t like trolls, and Kylie Preston (11) is one of them.

“It’s stupid, I mean you seriously are just harming other people,” Preston said.

It has been a topic of curiosity for a few years now. Why exactly are people doing this is the main question that pops up in each conversation, which is a simple enough question once you think about it.

The trolls can hide behind the Internet.

In the outer-world if you trolled someone you would most likely get punched in the face. In the cyber-world, however, no one will know who you really are and you can get away with doing stuff you would never do off the net.

Trolls have become so well known that they are even being used in memes, which dominate pop culture as of now. They are more prominent on websites such as 4chan, reddit, and Youtube but they can exist anywhere.

Trolls are also being used for bullying online. The most easy example to show would be the “Roast Me” posts on Reddit. Where people ask the trolls to criticize them off only one picture of them.

Preston feels like this is going too far.

“I think if hurts other people because if a girl on there looks like me and if you see these comments about her, then maybe that is true about me too,” Preston said.

Overall being a troll is a lonely life, not only cyberally but in real life as well.

Most of the trolls feel like their real-self is too weak, or perhaps they lack companionship and want to take it out on the world. The only way they feel like they can is on the Internet, because they don’t know how to confront others face-to-face.

Which only makes them feel weaker, as what they are doing gets called ‘weak’ and ‘cowardly’ all the time. Then there are other’s, who are just doing this for fun. Those are the real trolls.

Preston has some advice for these trolls.

“If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything,” Preston said.

On the Internet you can just create a version of yourself to lash out at other people because you feel like you can’t in real life. If you do that though, you are only hiding under a bridge.
Like in the fairy tale, it is the troll that is the only one who does not receive a happily ever after.