About 6 months ago we started attracting a huge influx of trolls to our posts, especially reels. Here are some things we want you to know about trolls, along with some info about our favorite ways to handle them.

Q: Who are the trolls?

A: We get trolled by people of all walks of life, but here are some trends we’ve noticed:
👉 Teenagers, especially boys
👉 Gym & fitness creators
👉 Fat or formerly fat people
👉 Blank accounts
👉 MAGA / conservative accounts
👉 Accounts with religious ties
In general, these are all people with a vested interest in keeping people like us scared, sad, and quiet.

Q: Who do they target?

A: We can’t speak to everyone’s experience, but on our page trolls comment negatively on anyone and everyone, from our smallest to largest models, of every race and gender presentation. Why is this relevant? These comments are designed to seem like they are a reaction to our bodies, but we believe they are actually more linked to our message. These commentators are individuals who are deeply challenged seeing people they perceive as “flawed” live without shame.

Q: Why do you leave their comments up?

A: There are a lot of different reasons. It is true that any engagement, even negative engagement like this, boosts our post in the algorithm, making it more likely that more people who need Fat Liberation will find us. Also, sometimes replies to the comments include meaningful or helpful info that we don’t want to delete. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, like you, we are humans with our own triggers. When a post goes viral we can receive 100+ troll comments/day. Some days the comments are just too overwhelming for us logistically and/or emotionally.

Q: What are their tactics?

A: We see these responses over and over:
👉 Suggesting when you’ll die
👉 Misgendering/ calling you “it”
👉 “I’m just trying to help”
👉 “It’s just a joke”
👉 “No one is saying…”/gaslighting
👉 The glorifying ob*s*ty argument

Don’t waste your time trying to reason against any of these, because at the end of the day all of these arguments are just thin veils for their fatphobia.

Q: How should I reply to them?

Here are some of our favorites…

 Professional Repercussions

Small Business Reviews

Tell the Women in Their Lives

Above all else, protect yourself…
Know the red flags for your own fatphobia: changes in how you see yourself, speak to yourself, or allow yourself to be seen.

When it becomes too much:
👉 Limit comments by going to the three dots in the top right of your comments.
👉 Report comments that include recognized hate speech
👉 Don’t engage unless you have the spoons
👉 Block, block, block
👉 If you want their comment to stay up, restrict them instead of blocking