I Just Had To Block My First Ever Troll on Medium

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rticles. He highlighted two words I’d obviously made up and gave me a good tongue-lashing for my abhorent desecration of the English language.</p><p id="e2f2">There’s a big difference between a fellow Medium user offering critical feedback with the view to edifying your writing style, and blatant trolling.</p><p id="dc0a">The pleasant gentleman’s bio states that he’s essentially on a mission to put other Medium writers in their place when they bend the rules of grammar and syntax. He’s a literary purist, it seems.</p><p id="1f8b"><i>Not all heroes wear capes, after all.</i></p><div id="7983" class="link-block"> <a href="https://medium.com/@thedavidmcilroy/subscribe"> <div> <div> <h2>Get an email whenever David McIlroy publishes.</h2> <div><h3>Get an email whenever David McIlroy publishes. By signing up, you will create a Medium account if you don't already…</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com

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/v2/resize:fit:320/0*f4anwAjd_eGoabwZ)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><p id="7a06">But whatever his goal, it doesn’t matter anymore. He’s been blocked. As far as I’m concerned, he no longer exists.</p><p id="bdb1">That’s the beauty of the internet. When you fail to feed a troll with the attention it so desperately craves, it has no choice but to slink back under its moss-covered bridge, muttering obsenities and indignations to no-one but itself.</p><p id="5b75">There’s only one lesson here: <b>don’t feed the trolls. Not even a crumb.</b></p><p id="e229">Hit the block button and carry on doing whatever the heck you want.</p><p id="cc31"><b><i>Have you ever been trolled on Medium? How did you respond?</i></b></p><p id="be02">If you liked this, join <b>2,500+ subscribers</b> in my Substack communities, <b><i>How to Write for a Living</i></b> and <b><i>The Solopreneur Stack</i>.</b> I’ll send valuable content straight to your inbox every week to help you learn and grow. <a href="https://thedavidmcilroy.carrd.co/"><b>Join now</b></a>.</p></article></body>

He’ll never troll me again.

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The community on Medium is fantastic.

Most of the time. Pretty much all the time, really.

Unfortunately, just like any online community, there are always trolls lurking in the shadows.

Not a Medium member? Read the full story here.

I’ve been on Medium since May 2023 and I’ve never clicked on the block button.

Until today.

A pleasant gentleman took issue with a couple of very deliberate syntactical choices in one of my latest Medium articles. He highlighted two words I’d obviously made up and gave me a good tongue-lashing for my abhorent desecration of the English language.

There’s a big difference between a fellow Medium user offering critical feedback with the view to edifying your writing style, and blatant trolling.

The pleasant gentleman’s bio states that he’s essentially on a mission to put other Medium writers in their place when they bend the rules of grammar and syntax. He’s a literary purist, it seems.

Not all heroes wear capes, after all.

But whatever his goal, it doesn’t matter anymore. He’s been blocked. As far as I’m concerned, he no longer exists.

That’s the beauty of the internet. When you fail to feed a troll with the attention it so desperately craves, it has no choice but to slink back under its moss-covered bridge, muttering obsenities and indignations to no-one but itself.

There’s only one lesson here: don’t feed the trolls. Not even a crumb.

Hit the block button and carry on doing whatever the heck you want.

Have you ever been trolled on Medium? How did you respond?

If you liked this, join 2,500+ subscribers in my Substack communities, How to Write for a Living and The Solopreneur Stack. I’ll send valuable content straight to your inbox every week to help you learn and grow. Join now.