Thread by @dhanyarajendran

So many lovely people crawling on my TL since yesterday. Saying all kinds of crap (some don't even like eh). But let me tell you all something, especially the women here. Around 3 years ago,I used to get very disturbed at organised trolling. I would lose sleep and worry endlessly

As a journalist, there are times when I knew the backlash would come, because that's part of the job. There are times that I would get upset despite knowing this. Though I would tell my colleagues to mute threads, I would still check them and get worried. I used to get nightmares

I wasn't sure how to deal with it. My first instinct was to stop voicing my opinions. I have strong (and maybe even unwanted) opinions about a lot of things, but I started self-censoring. I still do. But even that is not enough, regular news stories also can get you abused.

What I found helpful was couple of things:

1. Find your group of friends who you can vent this out to, who understand this. I have a gang (all women), two of whom face more abuses than I do. We tell each other when we are upset, there is no shame in saying that we are disturbed.

2. I also started speaking about this to my colleagues like @anna_isaac @rgmlk @madarassi @sowmya_rajen @madarassi and of course @vmvignesh 😊. They gave me a sense of purpose, courage. But my big learning was it's important to reach out to your circle when you are down

3. I take screenshots if anyone crosses the line. I have filed a police complaint only once, and trust me the backlash for that complaint was something worse than the abuse and organised trolling. Many here claimed I was spoiling the life of a young man. That young man apologised

4. I took back the case. But these days, I quietly send messages to some who abuse warning them to take down their tweets or posts. 5. Another important thing is to use the mute, report or block buttons. These are given for a purpose.

If someone harasses you, make all your friends report them. Use the tools that social media gives you. So all in all, I have learnt to deal with it. You have no power over me. Thanks bro.

Oh and finally, if you need help, from counsellors or other professionals, get it.

Forgot to add, I have another gang, three women journalists from TN, we also support each other a lot. Then there is another one who sleeps really late like me, so she is my rant friend in the night. Then there is the awesome NWMI. So find your space. It's all cool