opinion

Act, Don’t React, With Internet Trolls

Act, Don’t React, With Internet Trolls

The first time I received a hateful message online was about 10 years ago when I had just posted my first YouTube video. I was sitting at my laptop checking comments and sipping on a glass of Pinot Grigio when the words jumped off the screen … and into my soul.

“Die, fat bitch.”

If someone starts trouble in your room, ban them right away and report them to your platform’s abuse department.

I could feel my blood going cold as the tears streamed down my cheeks. I must have re-read the comment a hundred times that night wondering who would say something so heinous to a complete stranger. I tried to shake it off, but just couldn’t. So instead, I shut off my computer, finished my wine and cried into my pillow for the rest of the night.

As someone who works closely with models now, I hear similar stories every day. Tales of performers subjected to verbal abuse from members and harassed on social media by people who want freebies are just a few of the things I hear about at least several times a week.

Camming can be a glamorous gig, sure. After all, who doesn’t want to feel beautiful on camera while your adoring fans shower you with money and gifts? But any career in the spotlight also opens you up to the potential for a lot of hate online, and let’s be honest — sometimes it hurts.

So, how do you shake it off when the online trolls are out in full force while all you’re trying to do is mind your own business and do your job?

Consider the Source

The fact is that happy people don’t degrade others online. I’ll say it one more time for the people in the back: happy people don’t degrade others online. So if you find yourself on the receiving end of an undeserved verbal assault, remember what they are saying has far more to do with them than it does with you. When people are miserable in their own skin they will do everything they can to get under yours. Do your best not to let them.

Set Your Boundaries

If you perform or create content online, it’s likely that you will encounter cyberbullying in some form throughout the course of your career. Sometimes the hateful comments will bother you and sometimes they won’t, but either way it’s important to let people know you will take action if they disrespect you in any way. Set clear rules for your room and let members know you are not afraid to enforce them if they step out of line.

Don't Feed the Trolls

This can be a challenge, especially when your first instinct is to lash out and tell haters right where they can go. But it’s important to understand that internet trolls do what they do because they crave attention. They feed off of it, so let them starve.

Ban, Block and Report

Just because you have chosen a career in the spotlight doesn’t mean you have to take anyone’s abuse, so don’t. If someone starts trouble in your room, ban them right away and report them to your platform’s abuse department. Take screenshots of your interactions with them as well, that way if they try to downplay their behavior or claim they were just “roleplaying,” you have the proof you need to get them banned for good.

Rely on Your “Tribe” for Support

If someone gets under your skin, don’t internalize it. Seek support from your fellow peers, whether it’s via social media or model chat rooms hosted by your platform. I’ve been in many model chats where someone has opened up about being bullied in free chat only to have other models chime in and say they were harassed by the same member. Just remember, you are not alone and there are far more people who love and support you than you know.

Until next time, be good to yourselves and each other.

Jackie Backman is the content manager for Cams.com. She has been working in the industry for over 12 years and specializes in copywriting and social media management. Backman can be contacted at CamsJBackman@gmail.com.

Related:  

Copyright © 2024 Adnet Media. All Rights Reserved. XBIZ is a trademark of Adnet Media.
Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission is prohibited.

More Articles

profile

WIA Profile: Patricia Ucros

Born in Bogota, Colombia, Ucros graduated from college with a degree in education. She spent three years teaching third grade, which she enjoyed a lot, before heeding her father’s advice and moving to South Florida.

Women In Adult ·
opinion

Creating Payment Redundancies to Maximize Payout Uptime

During the global CrowdStrike outage that took place toward the end of July, a flawed software update brought air travel and electronic commerce to a grinding halt worldwide. This dramatically underscores the importance of having a backup plan in place for critical infrastructure.

Jonathan Corona ·
opinion

The Need for Minimal Friction in Age Verification Technology

In the adult sector, robust age assurance, comprised of age verification and age estimation methods, is critical to ensuring legal compliance with ever-evolving regulations, safeguarding minors from inappropriate content and protecting the privacy of adults wishing to view adult content.

Gavin Worrall ·
opinion

Account-to-Account Payments: The New Banking Disruptor?

So much of our industry relies upon Visa and Mastercard to support consumer payments — and with that reliance comes increased scrutiny by both brands. From a compliance perspective, the bar keeps getting raised until it feels like we end up spending half our time making sure we are compliant rather than growing our business.

Cathy Beardsley ·
profile

WIA Profile: Samantha Beatrice

Beatrice credits the sex positivity of Montreal for ultimately inspiring her to pursue work in adult entertainment. She had many friends working in the industry, from sex workers to production teams, so it felt like a natural fit and offered an opportunity to apply her marketing and social media savvy to support people she truly believes in and wants to see succeed.

Women In Adult ·
opinion

Understanding the Latest Server Processors

Over the last decade, we mostly stopped talking about CPU performance. Recently, however, there has been a seismic and exciting change in the CPU landscape, due to innovation by a chip company called Advanced Micro Devices (AMD).

Brad Mitchell ·
opinion

Maintaining Payment Processing Compliance When the Goalpost Keeps Moving

VIRP is the new four-letter word everyone loves to hate. The Visa Integrity Risk Program went into effect last year, and affects several business types — including MCC 5967, which covers adult and anything else with nudity, and MCC 7273, dating services that don’t allow nudity.

Jonathan Corona ·
opinion

Making the Most of Your Sales Opportunities

The compliance road has been full of twists and turns this year. For many, it’s been a companywide effort just to make it across that finish line. Hopefully, most of us can now return our attention to some important things we’ve left on the back burner for months — like driving revenue.

Cathy Beardsley ·
profile

YourPaysitePartner Marks 25-Year Anniversary Amid Indie Content Renaissance

For 25 years, YourPaysitePartner has teamed up with stars and entrepreneurial brands to bring their one-stop-shop adult content dreams to life — and given the indie paysite renaissance of the past few years, the company’s efforts have paid off in spades.

Alejandro Freixes ·
opinion

WIA Profile: B. Wilde

B. Wilde considers herself a strategic, creative, analytical and entertaining person by nature — all useful traits for a “marketing girlie,” a label she happily embraces.

Women In Adult ·
Show More