Had an "interesting" experience today, my first ever "internet troll". For those unfamiliar with the ways of the internet and social media, an internet troll is someone who basically likes to pick a fight with people they don't know, and they do it on social media.
Seems I tweeted something a couple of weeks ago, a spiritual thought along the lines of "don't be afraid and don't be ashamed of the gospel", and I used the hashtags #truth and #sharegoodness. To my surprise, it got retweeted a couple of times (I have followers, but it's not like I'm top on anyone's list) and some meanspirited, anti-LDS person found his way to it. This person, knowing absolutely about me, and who I don'tknow from Adam, replied back with something along the lines of "yes you should be ashamed..." I'll spare you the full details. But it was unexpected, and unpleasant, to say the least.
For several years now, the church has encouraged us to be active on social media. The idea is to share our testimonies and spread the gospel message online in a non-threatening way. And since I believe in following the counsel and admonishments of my Church leaders, I've tried to do just that. I have the blog, and I'm on facebook, and twitter. I mostly share things about my life that I find interesting, and some of it has to do with the church. Being on sociamedial isn't always pleasant, because there are a lot of opinions out there, many of which are dramatically different from mine. But I try to be respectful. It's the price of having freedom of speech. Usually it comes from people I consider friends, who I know mean well. But this is the first stranger criticism I've encountered. And like I said, this person had to go looking for it. It's not like I'm popular. Which makes it that much more disturbing.
But here's the thing. Although it may be disturbing, I will in no way play into it. And I am not and will not be ashamed. The Lord suffered far more, and so did the Prophet Joseph, and so does the Prophet today. And I will continue sharing goodness, because that's what we do. We keep going and we carry on. #sharegoodness #iamnotashamed
Seems I tweeted something a couple of weeks ago, a spiritual thought along the lines of "don't be afraid and don't be ashamed of the gospel", and I used the hashtags #truth and #sharegoodness. To my surprise, it got retweeted a couple of times (I have followers, but it's not like I'm top on anyone's list) and some meanspirited, anti-LDS person found his way to it. This person, knowing absolutely about me, and who I don'tknow from Adam, replied back with something along the lines of "yes you should be ashamed..." I'll spare you the full details. But it was unexpected, and unpleasant, to say the least.
For several years now, the church has encouraged us to be active on social media. The idea is to share our testimonies and spread the gospel message online in a non-threatening way. And since I believe in following the counsel and admonishments of my Church leaders, I've tried to do just that. I have the blog, and I'm on facebook, and twitter. I mostly share things about my life that I find interesting, and some of it has to do with the church. Being on sociamedial isn't always pleasant, because there are a lot of opinions out there, many of which are dramatically different from mine. But I try to be respectful. It's the price of having freedom of speech. Usually it comes from people I consider friends, who I know mean well. But this is the first stranger criticism I've encountered. And like I said, this person had to go looking for it. It's not like I'm popular. Which makes it that much more disturbing.
But here's the thing. Although it may be disturbing, I will in no way play into it. And I am not and will not be ashamed. The Lord suffered far more, and so did the Prophet Joseph, and so does the Prophet today. And I will continue sharing goodness, because that's what we do. We keep going and we carry on. #sharegoodness #iamnotashamed
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