Sunday, July 1, 2018

How to Not Be an Online Troll

I just got done reading an excellent post on The Gospel Coalition's website about the proliferation of trolling and flame wars on the internet, and how Christians are to respond with kindness and love, as we are Christ's ambassadors on earth. A brief excerpt:


If you’ve spent much time online, you’ve probably encountered the quintessential comment-section dumpster fire: profanity, non sequiturs, personal attacks, condescending Wonka memes. And you’ve wondered, while gazing at the apocalyptic meltdown of the public forum, “How did it ever come to this?” As a social network marketer who spends 40-plus hours a week online, I ask myself that question daily. Sometimes hourly. 
But truth be told, the road from responsible cyber citizen to raging troll is short and well traveled, and many denizens of the latter are unaware they’ve vacated the former. Therefore, before we assume which of these two camps we occupy, let’s take heed lest we fall (1 Cor. 10:12). For if one day we truly will “give account for every careless word” (Matt. 12:36–37), then we can’t afford to tweet haphazardly.
Full article here: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/not-online-troll/