Trolls on Forums: A Love Letter to the Keyboard Warriors Who Can’t Stand the Light

Trolls on Forums (And I Suspect Narcissists in Hiding)

Back in 2016, I found myself neck-deep in a comment thread war on some forgotten forum, probably about something that didn’t matter. I don’t remember the topic. I do remember the troll. Possibly a narcissist, which I didn’t discover until much later. At the time, trolls on forums were everywhere and those of us who published, were punished.

It was the kind of anonymous profile that oozed bitterness. Username like “TruthDealer88” or “EpicDagger42.” Zero profile picture. All bile. They came at me with the rage of someone whose childhood pet was emotionally distant and never came back from boarding school.

That’s when it clicked. Trolls don’t exist to contribute. They exist to unload. And unfortunately, they’ve mistaken the internet for a toilet.

The Troll Mindset: Anonymous, Unhinged, and Unbothered (and Possibly Narcissistic)

It is incredibly easy to tell someone they’re a waste of oxygen when you’re hiding behind a screen name and an IP address rerouted through three countries. No eye contact, no risk… no shame.

And with that digital invisibility comes entitlement. They believe it’s their birthright to slam anyone they want, whenever they want, however they want. Accountability? None. Context? Who needs it? It’s all about the dopamine rush of making someone else feel as awful as they do.

Trolls feed on attention, misery, and comment sections. They rarely create, but they always critique (sound familiar?). And not in a constructive way… no, that would require effort, thought, or heaven forbid, empathy.

They operate in echo chambers where cruelty is currency. Where sarcasm becomes a shield, and shame is something to weaponise. Most of them would never speak this way to another human in real life. But online? Different story. In their mind, it’s just text on a screen. Not someone’s actual day, confidence, or mental health.

Why They Do It (Spoiler: It’s Not You, It’s Them)

A troll is rarely angry at you. They’re angry at their job, their life, their reflection. You just happened to walk into the blast radius while existing online. Most trolls don’t even believe what they’re saying. They’re trying to provoke. Disrupt. Hurt. Why? Because control feels like power. And when everything else in your life feels powerless, trolling becomes a form of emotional currency. Again, I draw your attention to something I’ve experienced recently that’s a troll but in real life.

There’s a chance (just a chance) that the person they’re lashing out at is the one person doing something they wish they could do. Maybe you’re posting your art, or your opinion, or your messy but honest truth. And that burns them. Not because it’s bad. But because it’s brave.

The same way moths spiral toward a light they can’t understand, trolls gravitate toward content that makes them feel something. Usually inadequacy. Jealousy. Envy. They’d rather torch it than admit it touched a nerve.

What to Do With Trolls on Forums (Hint: Nothing)

Here’s what trolls hate more than being blocked: being ignored. They want a reaction. They want you to spiral, to cry, to argue. Silence, on the other hand, is a void they can’t manipulate. It’s tempting to clap back. To get clever. To put them in their place. But you know who else does that? Trolls. And the whole point here is not to become one.

Sometimes I fantasised about tracking IPs, exposing identities, fighting fire with cyberfire. But that’s exactly the kind of spiral they want you in. Trolls don’t deserve your time. They don’t deserve your growth.

If you’ve been trolled, take it as weird praise. They saw your light and couldn’t stand the reflection it cast on their own darkness.

You are the thing they hate because you remind them of what they are not: visible. Expressive. Unafraid. That’s not an insult. That’s a medal.

A Note From the Archives

This post is a rewrite of something I first published in 2016. It was meaner then. Angrier. Less filtered. It had phrases that would get me banned, blocked, or worse… cancelled in high definition.

I’ve cleaned it up not to silence the truth, but to speak it more clearly.

Trolls on forums still exist. Forums still host them, but they’re just everywhere. But these days, we know better than to take the bait. They’re shouting into the world and it gets quieter the more you heal.

If no one’s tried to tear you down online yet, maybe you haven’t scared the right people. Just wait.

And if you have been targeted, remember this: trolls only aim for things that shine.

Fox

Oh… btw. I’m writing a memoir, chapter by chapter. Check it out. It is about a troll, but someone so dark, so shockingly evil that I had to write a book about it. Yeah, it’s called Good Luck Getting Rid of Me.