Social Media trolling in 2017. Do you do these? I often get called a troll on social media, so I thought I would look into it a little and see what’s what.

Upon looking I can identify four main areas of trolling in the industry this industry, and others, and I’ll try to quickly explain them here. This might be my “I’m watching you moment”.

The “Illinformed muck spreader”. Yes, I edited that. I wanted to call them something else, but I won’t!! Over the years I’ve seen certain companies (and people) attract hate for one reason or another – it’s a big circle and it goes around constantly. Most recently it’s been Josh Scott and his company JHS. Now, I’m not going to get into the specifics of it but I’m lucky enough to call Josh a friend (enough for me to partake in a little of the banter mentioned below) and be horrified in what has been said. Josh has made mistakes, but who hasn’t, but it would appear that many people are only interested in spreading certain things about him and the company, either by sharing a long since disproved Reddit link, or talking about something with half-truths, and then pass that information on widely. The classic example of this was when Josh appeared on That Pedal Show a few months back, I found myself on a Saturday afternoon putting people right on YouTube and them not believing a word of it. It’s so easy to share information these days, but it doesn’t appear to be that easy to get it verified first or to even admit when you are wrong when someone who knows more than you tells you the reality of a situation.

The “want to be in with the crowd, banter”. This is where the grey line sits, banter. A lot of people who ‘meet’ me on social media see the way I speak to my friends and then try to do the same thing back to me, Brian has said they are trying to get in with the guy from the pedal company, I understand that, but it seems weird. Some of the people I ‘troll’ the heaviest on social media are friends I’ve made through the company/industry. So, please take a bow Thomas Quayle, Jamie Humphries and Richard Lainegard (and many many others come to think of it). All three of them are now actual friends, but we met online, and the banter grew over the years. I think people see the way we all talk to each other (especially myself and Jamie, as let’s face it, we are basically kids in the way we act) and think that’s the way to talk to us. It isn’t, that’s how WE are, but just how can we articulate that online? It’s really quite hard… Mostly they get ignored, but sometimes you have to say “Excuse me?”, that never really ends well though…

The “Anonymous Hater”. You know the kind, they hide behind a false name online and then just drop the hate on anyone and everything. If only their Mother’s had given them more hugs as kids, or their Father had attended their sports events at school, they may be better people.

The “Classic YouTube Hater”. These are the ones that confuse me the most. As soon as someone drops a new video on YT, they press the dislike button, usually without seeing it. I’ve noticed that Rob Chapman tends to get a load of thumbs downs instantly, so people are doing it without viewing it. So this means they somehow object to him, I doubt they’ve ever met him, so you know… if this is you … just don’t watch it. You don’t have to. Remember, Rob is providing a service, in his own style, and if you don’t want that service, don’t partake in it.

The other kind of main YouTube troll that totally cracks me up is the vocal hater. Now, I don’t have ANYTHING to do with the company YouTube page (probably a good idea based on what I am about to say) but every time we launch a new video, that tends to have Brian being Brian in it, someone will ALWAYS say “Your playing sucks”, or “That sounds terrible” etc etc. As soon as I read these, I always click on the profile of the person commenting and watch their own videos. 99% of the time they sound like a beginner playing a cheap guitar through a crappy amp, yet most of them are not young and have great gear. My head tells me something about these people, but I won’t say it, I expect your head is telling you the same thing.

Here’s the important thing, the REAL players and companies tend to support each other. When someone drops a video of their playing online the real players tend to support the uploader, tell them they like it, share it and basically embrace the industry. The people who don’t appear to know their input socket from their strap locks are the ones who spread the hate.  What does this mean do you think? Are these people just jealous trolls who can’t be nice, in the case of the people 1, 3 and 4 above, yes. What about the people who are number 2, just people trying to get in on the scene and they think this is what you have to do? It’s pretty obvious to me that what we are lacking online at times is social etiquette (and I also put my hands up to this one, there have been times when I’ve been wildly inappropriate at the wrong time that’s led to embarrassment to all involved) and basic respect for the people who are out there.

In ANY online situation, and as my personal reference point, I give you Mr Andy Wood. The benchmark for social media politeness. I don’t know if this is a conscious effort on his behalf or if this is just the way things were done in his house when he grew up, but you can’t find a more respectful and gracious man out there. If someone posts something online, and even if it’s obviously someone working on something and it’s a bit rough, he supports the person and encourages them. It doesn’t matter if it’s a Quayle legato masterpiece or someone like me ham-fistedly trying to rip off someone else’s solo. Now, Andy also calls people ‘Sir’ in real life, if you ask him a question he says “Yes sir” in his response (which has led me to look over my shoulder in the past as I’m not used to people being that polite and I think he’s talking to someone else) – maybe we could all do with being brought up in East Tennessee to get some respect in our language. You’ll never see Andy undermining players, even those I know he looks up to – especially those he looks up to, if he classes them a better player than him, he has respect for the player and what they are doing.

To the others, I say this. One day Brian may be foolish enough to let me comment on the company You Tube page, and I can guarantee I would have a field day with you, but you know, I’m not allowed for this very reason as fortunately for us, these type of people aren’t so prevalent on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. If you befriend someone on social media and they have a lively relationship with other people that appear to revolve around insulting each other, let them get on with it, it’s their thing, not yours. Be informed, if you are about to say something about someone or a company that is defamatory, look it up first. Don’t spread the hate for the sake of it, one day someone is going to go too far and get themselves sued. I kinda hope this happens one day, it would be a wonderful wake-up call to many people out there. And to the haters. I know haters are going to hate, but you know, all you are doing is making yourself look like a dick in the process. So, as usual, I’ll end this with my favourite saying: “Don’t be a Dick”

What about me being a troll, nah – I just have fun calling my mates names, it’s what I do.

 

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