They’re often referred to as “keyboard warriors.” These are people who spew nasty and hateful comments from behind the security of their computer screens.

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Most keyboard warriors wouldn’t speak such hurtful things face to face with someone else but give them a keyboard and they suddenly feel comfortable to troll and hard. In other words,

Anyone who posts anything to social media, writes an article, or publishes a video to a streaming provider has to understand that nasty comments are bound to pop up, but that doesn’t mean the sting isn’t felt.

All of us, at one time or another, have felt frustrated or angry with someone else but how many of us have actually nastily trolled a person online? Most of us wouldn’t do something like that because we were raised to be decent humans but for some people, they thrive on the thrill of cutting someone off at the knees with their words.

Redact.dev conducted a survey in which they asked people whether or not they had ever trolled someone online. Nationally, 17 percent of people admitted that they had acted in an unbecoming manner and had “sent, shared or tagged someone in an unsavory social media post.”

Residents of West Virginia are pretty nasty online with 27 percent of people from that state admitting they have engaged in trolling behavior. On the other hand, only five percent of people in Delaware admitted that they had.

Where does New York fall on the list? In New York, 16 percent of people admit that they have trolled someone at one time or another. 19 percent of our neighbors in Pennsylvania admitted to online bullying.

73 percent of people say they wouldn’t stand by and watch troll another person and would take action, reporting the troll. Even more, almost half of all people believe that online trolling should be a crime under federal law. One in ten people say an internet troll should be punished by having to serve community service.

Mary Katherine Backstrom is an author and content creator who has been the victim of some very nasty trolling and she recently posted a live video explaining what ugly words can do to a person.

There is so much truth to many of the things Mary Katherine said, but this stood out, “Just a reminder that kindness is free, bullying is never okay, and that the people you follow in the internet are actual flesh and blood.”

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