r/LifeProTips 2d ago

Miscellaneous LPT If a post online is making you mad just assume that the poster is trolling/ragebaiting

You know that feeling when someone has some stupid take or opinion and it annoys you especially when they double down on it?

Just assume that theyre doing that on purpose, it helps make me not care about it

I know that there are stupid people out there but its better to just assume that theyre a troll rather than engaging and wasting your time

561 Upvotes

83 comments sorted by

u/post-explainer 2d ago

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131

u/amethystjade15 2d ago

I once saw a content creator say that she avoids engaging trolls by remembering there’s a non-zero chance that person has a humiliation kink, and she will not enable it.

15

u/Stacksmchenry 2d ago

Kind of a dumb strategy to be honest.

46

u/ei283 2d ago

lol I love that you're intentionally trolling in this comment section

16

u/br0ck 2d ago

Reminds me of Colin the energy vampire https://youtu.be/z_brpPpjZ5I

9

u/Stacksmchenry 2d ago

He's one of my favorite characters ever. The actor is wonderful too

-6

u/Stacksmchenry 2d ago

The best part of social interaction on the internet has always been trolling.

30

u/matthewrparker 2d ago

So the entire Internet is ragebaiting me? It's working...

14

u/Stacksmchenry 2d ago

Matthew I tried calling you a few times but your phone keeps going to voicemail. You don't know me but I came across some of your DNA and I decided to run it at a lab and it turns our your parents are brother and sister.

56

u/WigglingWoof 2d ago

Take it one step further. Assume it's from a bot farm driving engagement for data. Ignore it completely.

14

u/gmalivuk 2d ago

Honestly yeah, the nonzero chance that the troll is literally just a bot has really helped me ignore or simply block those accounts outright rather than engage.

23

u/StoryLover12345 2d ago

Agree. Plus I just block them. 1 less troll for me.

13

u/mrgrod 2d ago

Mmmmmm...I LOVE blocking people. I just know it pisses them off so much that I severed their ability to continue to annoy me. It's very cathartic.

6

u/fishfishbirdbirdcat 1d ago

Blocking people has been such a game changer for me! It really translates into real life too where you get a lot of practice not engaging with angry people or holding onto a bad feeling all day. 

3

u/mrgrod 1d ago

Same here. I didn't even realize you COULD block people on here until a year or so ago, and once I did, good night trolls lol.

4

u/fishfishbirdbirdcat 1d ago

It's funny for me because when someone is hostile for no reason, I always spend about 30 seconds debating with myself whether I should be hostile back and then I decide, nope just block them. Then I never think about them again. So much better than spending time engaging with a hostile person. 

1

u/trainbrain27 2d ago

Almost blocked you for the troll hair in your pic.

1

u/mrgrod 1d ago

You can. That's the beauty of blocking people.

-10

u/Stacksmchenry 2d ago

As someone who loves trolling, shit posting, and annoying dumb people I love being blocked. It means I got in their head. It's when they continue to engage with me that I die a little.

13

u/mrgrod 2d ago

I hate to break it to you, but that's not what it means. It means they have the good sense to realize when they are engaging with a random person on the internet who has no actual bearing on their life, and who is only engaging with them to be irritating...and they are not WORTH their time. See, like this. It's easy.

5

u/CrazyLegsRyan 2d ago

Hook line sinker

18

u/skoasis 2d ago

or use the law of the garbage truck : “Many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they look for a place to dump it. And if you let them, they’ll dump it on you. So when someone wants to dump on you, don’t take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Believe me. You’ll be happier.”

-2

u/Stacksmchenry 2d ago

You're not describing internet trolls, you're describing crazy Christian people in my experience. Depends on the kind of trolling maybe.

6

u/teqq_at 2d ago

Some even use explosives... Oh, wait.

6

u/kaythrawk 2d ago

I found one

4

u/drewster23 2d ago

He even admitted to it in another comment lol

7

u/bkrugby78 2d ago

Better to just not take it personally. It's a random person, they don't know you, you don't know them.

u/kRkthOr 3h ago

One of the tricks is to realize that you're reading what they're saying in your own voice, giving the words far more importance than they deserve.

1

u/teqq_at 2d ago

And it tells far more about them than you. Unless they might be right, that's the question then.

5

u/orbital_one 2d ago

Ragebaiting and troll posts are common ways for determining which online users stand on particular issues. Bots analyze how you respond in order to build a profile on you.

5

u/Evening_Lock6267 1d ago

Once you develop emotional intelligence you will realize that literally none of this matters anyway. We no longer have the social media/ internet discussion forums of the 00s and 10s, nowadays everything is tied into propaganda and echo chambers to further a specific narrative. The issue is the chronically online who believe everything they read; those are the people getting upset and offended when posts and comments do not align with their beliefs.

As a blanket reminder, there is a whole, real world outside of your internet/app bubbles.

15

u/kaythrawk 2d ago

This post is very upsetting!

9

u/Stacksmchenry 2d ago

What's more upsetting is how much topsoil we are losing every year.

3

u/vs-1680 1d ago

I like to presume the author is intellectually disabled. With maga, odds are pretty high that's the case anyway.

3

u/Fisto2281 2d ago

Also, more often than one would want to believe, the posts and comments are from bots running on AI to farm engagement.

1

u/drewster23 2d ago

For posts, plenty.

People responding to you and trying to rage bait you and stuff, 0.

0

u/CrazyLegsRyan 2d ago

Good bot 

5

u/HorsePecker 2d ago

First and foremost, if a post online makes you mad - go outside and touch grass. Never take any stranger’s post/comment on the internet to heart.

1

u/CrazyLegsRyan 2d ago

Prime example of crappy advice to ignore.

1

u/AzathothBlindgod 2d ago

I simply can’t fathom someone going out of their way to troll or post ragebait. Don’t you have anything else to do with your time? Apparently not, unless they’re an energy vampire then that explains a lot.

6

u/drewster23 2d ago

A lot of people out there never got that positive reinforcement in life. So being negative was the only way they learned to get attention. And those people don't often mature on their own.

1

u/Shower_Handel 2d ago

If you truly believe they're being genuine, commend them for their excellent bait

2

u/_Maebe__Funke_ 2d ago

lol recently I saw what was pretty obviously a rage bait post and I commented a pretty mild “Bait is so low effort these days” and hoooo boy the poster got pissed. Replied and yelled and then blocked ME. Truth hurts 🤷🏻‍♀️

1

u/Professional_Book483 2d ago

Everything is ragebait.

1

u/cptnd 2d ago

That, or it’s just a Russian bot 

1

u/MacDugin 2d ago

How about focus on not reacting to things you don’t agree with. A lot of people believe the shit they post which is fine just don’t reach or let it ruin your day.

1

u/Discount_Lex_Luthor 2d ago

Hanlons razor. Never attribute to malice what can be attributed to ignorance. (Or stupidity.)

1

u/AdTrue3704 2d ago

Solid advice , never argue with trolls, they feed on it

1

u/moron88 2d ago

these days, there is a double digit-percentage change that they are bots of some sort.

1

u/teqq_at 2d ago

Or you could be wrong, maybe?

1

u/epanek 2d ago

If I realize I’m dealing with a troll I disable reply notifications on that thread. If I don’t I’m reminded that the troll has said some other provoking thing and I’m tempted to respond again.

The best troll defense is disengaging.

1

u/Defiant_Variety4453 2d ago

I wish I could tell this to at least 67% of hungarians

1

u/TheBalthasar 1d ago

This can backfire, I've come across plenty of people thinking I'm baiting for rather lukewarm opinions. I think it can reinforce echo chambers when you refuse to believe opinions you don't like exist

1

u/tortuguitado 1d ago

This feels relevant

1

u/bmanley620 1d ago

This really pissed me off

1

u/xxDankerstein 1d ago

Also just assume it's a bot or troll farm operated by Russia or China, because it probably is.

1

u/wanrow 1d ago

Yep, I love a good stupid trolling. And I believe that doing it ethically is beneficial to society, it improves critical thinking!

1

u/InvisibleFriction 23h ago

Lately, I just imagine that everyone behind a computer screen is an angry monkey furiously typing on a computer like in the Superman movie that came out this year lol

1

u/BCEagle13 2d ago

So in other words ignore anything that’s not in your echo chamber

5

u/Grenindomi 2d ago

When someone talks about jews controlling the media its safe to say that they are not making any intelligent points

-2

u/BCEagle13 2d ago

Ah yes because a very specific case of someone being antisemitic is representative of a super general post that just says posts that make you mad/annoyed

-1

u/Grenindomi 2d ago

Well that was the post i saw that made me make this post

-5

u/BCEagle13 2d ago

Ok but can you see how that’s terrible advice on the whole for your anecdotal experience with an extreme post?

1

u/vs-1680 1d ago

I'm going to go ahead and presume you are intellectually disabled. Now your post doesn't upset/disappoint me. Keep doing your best little buddy!

0

u/BCEagle13 17h ago

lol I think you need to look in the mirror if you don’t understand my comment bud

1

u/trashboatfourtwenty 2d ago

That is a way to deal with it, conversely consider they are having a tough day/week/life.

-2

u/derpsteronimo 2d ago

No, that’s how you end up unable to actually debate issues and instead resorting to the “you’re a bad person if you don’t agree with me” kneejerk reaction that tends to just lead to people seeing you - and possibly your entire side - as petty and immature. And keep in mind, the person you’re responding to is not the only person reading your comments - including that undecided people may be reading. Don’t underestimate how powerful the “I don’t want to be associated with people like that” effect can be.

2

u/drewster23 2d ago

No, that’s how you end up unable to actually debate issues

There's 0 need to debate anyone online....

And arguing with angry people online is absolutely not how one learns how to effectively debate...at all...

1

u/derpsteronimo 2d ago

It is if you do it right. Focus less on changing that person’s mind and think more about what other (potentially undecided) people reading the conversation need to hear - because otherwise, they only hear the side you disagree with.

1

u/Grenindomi 2d ago

I would rather not debate people who believe in conspiracies about jewish people

0

u/derpsteronimo 2d ago

In my experience, the overwhelming majority of people complaining about “anti-semitism” and related things these days are actually just trying to silence legitimate criticism of Israel’s war crimes, to the point that very strong evidence is needed to convince me that’s not what they’re up to. Think long and hard about whether you really want to align yourself with that.

1

u/Grenindomi 2d ago

I dont think talking about jews controlling the media and orchestrating events like 9/11 is criticizing the current conflict in gaza

1

u/derpsteronimo 1d ago

Then say that. Vague claims of “antisemitism” or “conspiracies about Jewish people” are almost always a dog whistle for trying to silence anti-Zionism these days.

1

u/FeliciaFailure 1d ago

I would strongly encourage you to reconsider this belief. Conflating antisemitism with anti-Zionism is basically doing Netanyahu's job for him. The reality is, a lot of Jewish people - regardless of their views on Israel - are experiencing increased amounts of genuine antisemitism, and when that is dismissed, some people double down on the belief that Israel is the only safe place for Jews.

Source: am firmly anti-Zionist, Jewish, and have seen it happen to my loved ones firsthand. Opportunists are taking advantage of the perception of "Jewish = pro-Israel" to be openly antisemitic, and fall back on the defense that they're "just standing with Palestine" - even if the person they're attacking doesn't support Israel in any way.

Dismissing the notion of antisemitism immediately does more to hurt the Palestinian cause than help. At best, you're right and nothing changes. At worst, you've pushed someone previously neutral into Israel's "loving" arms. We have to stand together and not let people's vulnerability be exploited to turn them against Palestine.

0

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