Troll Patrol: Five Reasons To Have Them Visit You

I have friends who think that what I'm trying to do is amazing. As I continue to use Social Media not only to promote performance art or connect people to use my project, "Video Nurse", they remind me that they don't know anyone else who is doing this in quite the same way. More likely than not, they explain to me in plain words, "I couldn't do that. I'm too scared."

My question: too scared of WHAT? Or, WHO are they scared of?

I can only imagine the fear they express has something to do with stories of breaches of privacy and security that have been the source of lawsuits, complaints against almost all Social Media platforms, and news that has now become as commonplace to our lives as credit card fraud. Most people don't want to open themselves up to this kind of nuisance. But now, we have something else to deal with that is a problematic as security breaches.

When I first initiated an Internet presence through a website in 2000, I couldn't have conceived of the types of web terrorism that we now have on our hands today. Sure, I was aware enough back then to keep my private information off the web, such as home phone numbers and addresses, or the names of my family members and children.

But now we have on our hands the web equivalent of a gang-style, drive-by shooting, something which I'm naming a Troll Patrol. The troll patrol is a group of loosely-organized douchebags mostly composed of young males. They gather at appointed times, comb the Internet for unmoderated shows, livestreams, and web communities, and once designating a target, swarm an unsuspecting site. Comments are saturated with boring uses of expletives, racist and bigoted remarks, repeated lines of garbage, and progressively more violent, misogynistic, or rude comments to try to provoke the moderator or web manager to react. Those who were enjoying the site feel terrorized in the volatile environment, and they may leave and plan not to return. Whereas a single troll can easily be blocked or removed, a horde as large as 200 or 300 trolls is a bit more like trying to spray insect repellent on a horde of angry hornets. This hornet's nest, however, is composed of bored teenagers looking for fun at your expense.

At first glance, interacting with a group of bored teenagers might not sound very daunting, nor scary. But you might recall an incident a few years ago involving a pair of teens who threw the switch of a train, sending it off the tracks and killing several on board. When interviewed as to why they did this, the answer: they were bored. Use this example as a reminder of what a group of bored teens and young adults can do collectively using smartphones, laptops, and the power of Google to search the web for information about you.

If a troll patrol comes and visits YOUR sites, could there possibly be any reason to celebrate?

Five Reasons to Celebrate a Troll Patrol Visitation

1. Use a Troll Patrol visit as an education. As disgusting as some of their comments may become, you are receiving a fast education about what this generation of users has absorbed from the Internet. For better or for worse, study your market.

2. Their presence on your site, for however long it lasts, may signal that you have a good presence on the Internet. They aren't targeting first time users. Break out the bubbly, and congratulate yourself: you have arrived.

3. Practice handling hostility. Someday, this will help you if you have a PR nightmare on your hands if you ever get a public complaint about your business, or you make a mistake that needs your quick answer, free of defense or excuses. How you handle a Troll Patrol is a pretty good indicator of quick thinking and fast action.

4. Stand on your own feet. A moderator, spam bot, or your blocking application won't be helpful. Visitations are brief, and you won't be able to remove them as fast as they can return; at the same time, you have to protect your real fans, client, and viable community. Here'a great chance to allow people to sling mud and for you to not take any of it personally. Your true community will see you for who you truly are: strong and confident. The trolls are doing you a favor: while demonstrating their own pathos, group trolls are unwittingly making you look good to your community.

None of this is about you; it is clearly about them. Watch how they turn on each other if you laugh and smile at their comments while they search for ways to "get to you." One of the comments on my recent troll patrol visitation speculated that I must have a child who was retarded. The commenter asked if I was angry. Another commenter added that he would like to me in the . I observed their frenzy with fascination and amusement.

5. Use the experience as a "shake-down" for security measures you may want to add to your sites, such as age restrictions, user registrations, and blocking abilities. If you don't have a moderator, you might want to find one by searching through your most loyal clients or fans. In exchange for moderating your site, you could give free product, discounts, services, or a title on your site that connotes honor and loyalty.

Have you been visited by a Troll Patrol? How did you handle it? If you have a funny or interesting related story, please share it offline at info@hipsforhire.com.

Video Nurse: Five Things People Do That Could Kill Them

Just another friendly reminder: Video Nurse will be talking about, "Five Things That People Do That Could Kill Them". Yeah, yeah, we know that we're all going to die someday, and that death is an inevitability. But Video Nurse is going to talk about some uncommon thoughts about people's every day choices that can lead to dramatic (and sometimes devastating) results in regards to their health.

Video Nurse has already released several short segments on Youtube covering the following subjects: dirty money (should you wash your hands after handling money?), hawt dogs (shoes and foot care), Eating Disorders, and how to stave off a cold. Now we're coming to you live to unleash the power of technology and community to help foster discussion on what you can do to improve your overall physical and mental health.

Video Nurse makes its official debut Mondays at 5pm Pacific Standard Time on Ustream.tv (look for Video Nurse) starting June 7, 2010. It's a one-hour show by topic, with time for people in the chat room to ask questions and jump in the dialogue about health-related topics. I'll occasionally record segments of the show and archive them by topic.

While Video Nurse does not exist to diagnose or treat any specific person's disease or disorder, I can speak generally about the disease/disorder, and point callers towards resources to help them make the most informed choices possible.

Video Nurse Moves to HipsForHire on Blogger!

Video Nurse on Youtube made its debut earlier this year (2010) with the encouragement of web entrepreneur Chris Pirillo and the support of various friends both inside and outside the medical world. They know my passion for health care and particularly Community Health, which is my emphasis as a B.S.N./RN and psychotherapist.

Now I am temporarily moving Video Nurse segments to my new Hips For Hire Blogger site (its current home is HipsForHire.ning.com, but we'll be wrapping up that community this month). I am launching a Ustream.tv show, "Video Nurse" airing Mondays at 5pm PST, fielding questions about health care and mental health care, and preparing interesting subjects in a "Dr. Phil" type of format, without formally diagnosing or treating anyone (for liability issues). Please check out my show starting June 7, 2010 on ustream.tv (search for Video Nurse).

For those of you joining my web community or reading this post, here's a post I wrote in March 2010 explaining the idea and environment in which Video Nurse evolved:


Why Video Nurse Makes Sense
by Imei Hsu, RN, MAC, LMHC
SeattleDirectCounseling
March 5, 2010

We already know that the Internet has changed the way we do life in general. In a survey of Americans taken by Yahoo! as shown on the Today Show on March 5, 2010, people have indicated that the Internet is something they can't do without, and even more importantly, email has replaced snail mail as the quintessential form of communication of letters and notes. And with movies like "Avatar" and "Alice in Wonderland", 3-D movies are changing the way we literally see life. What next?

If video killed the radio star, can video "kill" or change the way we deliver medicine?

Though we will never replace the need for a set of eyes, hands, ears, nose and a brain to physically observe a person showing a set of symptoms, video and digital reproduction are being used in innovative ways to keep us healthy. The ways we can use new technologies are endless.

At the SMC Seattle's Tweetup at Swedish Medical Center last week, I sat at a machine that allowed me to get the feel of conducting a lap-band procedure. Grasping handles that were so much more comfortable than Joy-stick style game controllers, I plucked, lifted, stretched, and lassoed a number of gelatinous objects in my viewer, whilst others looked at the real objects and cheered me on in my imaginary world of lap band placement. I walked away feeling like a pro, though I assure you, it would be many hours of training before the average medical student will be performing his or her first procedure.

If only bariatric training could have been so cool. Back in the day, nurses and doctors studied books and watched videos of surgeries and procedures. Then we scheduled "cut and sew alongs" (my phrase), practicing on real people with an supervising physician. Every medical newbie remembers the first time s/he cauterized a bleeder, or placed stitches on an ear hanging precariously off the side of a patient's head. With real-time video, streaming, and digital reproduction, learning is faster, realistic, and vivid. Just like my philosophy instructor said, "Like the Matrix, the virtual is now more real than the Real."

If these technologies, documentation, and videos are available for people to access, why do we need something like "Video Nurse", a new concept I am testing on Youtube to provide questions and answers from the Internet about health, mental health, and relationships? One of my Youtube subscribers said it succinctly: because there isn't anything else like it on Youtube, and because people are lazy. The info is there. Yet we still like to talk to a warm body and be pointed in a direction that makes sense to us.

If curiosity killed the cat, I wonder how many of my cat lives are dead. I love finding good questions, and then I literally want to do a combo "pee-pee dance/O face" of excitement whilst I research answers off the Internet, compare statistics and sources, and decide what is essential to share.

Got an interesting question for Video Nurse? Send it in, and let me at it. Chances are, someone out there has been asking the same question, and together, we can do a world of good. If there are enough questions for a full-life show, I'll stream my answers in a 30 minute or 60 minute event on Ustream.tv. Grab your popcorn - or, oh wait! Find out what Video Nurse has to say about digestion and corn, and then make your own decision about what to grab for a snack.