Stressing over the jerks

You know, the world online is much different than the “real world.”  When people are on the Internet they will do and say things that are very rude and downright mean, things that they would never say or do to your face in the real world.

Because I operate a number of websites, some of them very large and active, I have had more than my fair share of dealing with jerks.  People who only want to cause trouble and really have nothing of interest to say or add to the discussion.  I have even dealt with people who will curse me and talk bad about me, they will say how much they hate my website, but they simply will not leave.  For example, on one of my sites there is a person who has been causing trouble for years.  He bad mouths me and has even made personal violent threats against my wife and kids.  I have banned him from the site.  He always comes back, though, under an assumed name.  If he hates me and my site so much, why can’t he stay away?

Is he addicted? It would seem so.

Being bullied is never fun

Dealing with people like this can be quite stressful.  There was a time when I felt considerable stress from this idiot who was harassing me online.  But, do you know what?  I gave up on even listening to him.  Yes, he still comes back to my site and stirs the pot, causing trouble.  But, when I see his hallmarks on the site, and know it is him, I just ban him again, and I don’t stress out over it.

For most of these type of jerks who live to cause trouble on the net, they are actually fairly normal people in real life.  When it comes to the Internet, though, they have some anonymity being online, because nobody knows that it is really them.  With that degree of anonymity, they go wild and cause considerable grief to others.

Bullies are jerks!

But, remember, if you are online and somebody starts bullying you, you are in control!  You don’t have to participate.  You don’t even have to keep visiting the website where the creep is hanging out.  If you own the website where somebody is causing trouble, you can blacklist that person.  If you are using WordPress for your site, it is simple to ban somebody, just click on the “Discussion” link in the Admin area, and add that person’s e-mail address to the “Blacklist” box at the bottom of the page.  It’s that simple.  If you use other software for your site, nearly all of the decent packages include a way to ban a bully from your site.

But, if you allow yourself to stress out over such a problem, that is a bad habit!  If you are truly a smart person, you will learn to ignore the bully, or ban him from the site so that you don’t have to deal with him.  Whatever direction you choose, just don’t stress out and let the person ruin your online experience.

Good luck to you.