Social Media is for Idiots

“Social media is for idiots.”

I used to throw that insult at people all the time while trolling them online. The stupidest part was very few of them acknowledged the fact that I was using social media to insult them. Unfortunately for me though, the few that did were the ones I wish I hadn’t insulted in the first place.

It all started with a casual rustling of some fat people on a Weightwatchers Facebook group, I was making fun of them for thinking they were eating right when they were secretly scoffing down McDonalds. I didn’t believe any of the words I was typing, but it didn’t stop me from putting them down, or finding them funny. After all, I was using a fake account online, no one could ever know it was actually me.

Looking back I can admit now that I was insulting everyone because of my own loneliness and sadness, but I would never admit that to anyone. I didn’t even have anyone to admit it to. I had no friends and my parents were too busy on their swingers groups on Facebook that they were constantly on. Social media is filled with nothing but perverts and idiots.

Well on the day I was insulting this one particularly fat guy, laughing about the fact that he tried posting a picture of a ‘healthy’ dinner, when based on his greasy face he was clearly eating Marmite straight from the jar. I thought that it was a great insults and there would be dozens of people joining me in the laughter. No one did. The backlash I got was ridiculous, everyone was trying to insult me (which never works, you don’t become an internet troll without being able to ignore the insults) and defends the fat guy. I tried to keep up with the number of responses I was getting, giving everyone their own insult back, but eventually I had to log off because it was just not funny anymore.

Later that day I went back online and I had a personal message, which was one of the people ranting at me, and an email in my personal email account. There was no way any of these people could have found my email address, or even known who I was, but somehow someone did. The message was frightening. It was from the Fat Guy himself and what was worse he knew my name, and street address. He said he didn’t like the comments I made earlier and that he was coming to teach me some manners.

I panicked. I deleted my email and my Facebook account, thinking that would be the end of it, I could go on with my life in peace, and after a week I would come back and create new aliases and be back to trolling. It wasn’t like it was the first threat I had, but this was the first to actually know me, to know where I lived.

But on my way to school a van stopped in front of me, and inside was The Fat Guy. He dragged me inside the van and tied me up. I still don’t know where it was I was taken, but the whole journey Fat Guy kept laughing at me and shouting “who’s the fat idiot now!”

When the van stopped I was dragged out and tied to a chair in a dingy barn. Fat Guy had four of friends, who I recognised as people defending him online, and they took it in turns slapping me about. I cried in terror for what felt like hours, hoping someone would hear me. There was no one to come and rescue me, and my parents barely registered that I wasn’t at home.

After they were done beating me they sat down and made me read out all the comments I had left them. They wanted me to regret my words, to feel bad. But I didn’t, i only felt hatred for the fat bastard. Maybe that is why social media is for idiots, because there I was in mortal danger and yet I didn’t regret my words. Or maybe I was just the idiot. They realised they weren’t getting through to me by just smacking me so Fat Guy, who was the leader of a gang, decided I had to lose something to teach me a lesson.

That is how I lost my middle finger. They cut it off and I screamed and apologised, and only then did I realise what damage my online trolling was really doing. I do regret what I used to be, and when I go on social media and see others trolling and be cruel to others I look at where my finger used to be and think that while it might not be for idiots- social media is filled with idiots.