Will the Real Trolls Please Stand Up

The other day, I made a post on a pregnant community directing members to read my online journal entries. For some foolish reason, I was under the impression that everyone, like myself, would find it to be a literary masterpiece. 

I hadn’t taken the time to contemplate the fact that I was entering into the midst of a mob of hormonally imbalanced women that were just waiting to tear their teeth into something. I more or less presented my blog as a free offering to them.

Granted, none of them really know who I am or my personality or how much I love my wife, so they could only take what was given at face value. My wife has been very supportive of my blog thus far, and while she may shake her head at some of the things I write, she has always been a good sport about it and sees the lighter side of things. (You're the best, bub!) I use a lot of tongue-in-cheek humor, and I suppose, if taken out of context, parts of my blog could seem a bit insensitive or mean.

I noticed there was a group that specifically gathered for the sole purpose of searching out blogs to rant about. Unfortunately, mine happened to get in their way, and boy did I get it. They picked my blog apart, appalled at all the things that I had written. I am flattered and humbled that my blog could rally people together like this. Before that, it was just gathering dust and me it's only loving viewer.

I'm OK with a little constructive criticism, but name calling seems a bit immature, especially for mothers-to-be. They used all sorts of names, most of which I refuse to type in case there are little ones reading this. However, they did seem to like referring to me as a “troll.”

There are a couple of definitions to be found for the word ‘troll.’ Perhaps they were referring to me as part of a race of supernatural beings, sometimes conceived as giants and sometimes as dwarfs, inhabiting caves or subterranean dwellings. However, I am neither tall, nor short, am not supernatural (though I am pretty super), and definitely don’t live in any subterranean dwellings.

Then, there is the slang definition of the word, which states that a troll is an ugly or grouchy person. Unfortunately, I am neither ugly (remember, I’m abnormally handsome), and I’m generally a pretty happy-go-lucky person.

Finally, I came upon this definition of a troll: an internet user who sends inflammatory or provocative messages designed to elicit negative responses. By golly, I believe we’ve just pinpointed who the real trolls are!

However, on a serious note, this fiasco enlightened me to the fact that sometimes my meaning and intention when writing might be misinterpreted. Therefore, I took their comments to heart and re-worded parts of my blog to be more reader sensitive. I also realized that I would be a tough sell with the pregnant market, though I was encouraged by a comment from a poster stating that she appreciated hearing things from a male perspective. 

Wonders of all wonders! I have a fan!