Online Etiquette: Why Do Trolls Act So Mean?

Ever jumped a traffic light, bribed someone, or downloaded a pirated movie?  Or scrolled past a nasty online comment wondering, why do people behave this way?  [Have you ever done something online you wouldn't do face-to-face?  Be open to share it?]

That old saying “Stolen fruit tastes sweetest.” sums it up well.  Hidden behind a screen, bending or breaking rules feels safer.  That little dopamine rush makes us feel invincible.

Trolls thrive on the same rush.  They're not interested in any real discussion.  They just want our views, likes, and share.  Every reaction gives them a fleeting sense of power.  [Has a troll ever got under your skin?  Did you take the bait?  Drop a quick yes/no in the comments.]

Every troll has a game plan.  It goes like this:

• Whataboutism:  Drag in unrelated issues to dodge your point of view. 
• Bad-Faith Arguments:  Pretend to debate, but waste your time.
• Personal Attacks:  Insult you instead of engaging.

[Which of these have you faced?  Vote in the comments: Whataboutism, Bad Faith, or Personal Attacks?]

Once you spot these tricks, you realise - what they want is not debate, but your attention.  Left unchecked, they poison conversations, spread misinformation, and erodes online grace and civility.

Your Turn

True..., we can’t silence every troll, but we can stop them.  When you encounter one, ignore, argue, block, or report.  [Share, what you'd do, in the comments.] 

Our ultimate aim is must be to keep this space respectful, and troll-free.

Podcast versions of this post are just a click away :

🎧 Audio: English | Malayalam 

 🎞️ Video: English | Malayalam

Tap on  [Part 1]  and  [Part 2]  for  "Online Etiquette" series.  Stay tuned for Part 4!

Online Etiquette (2): Trolls Trip on Their Own Tracks!

At a packed suburban railway station, someone

yelled, “The bridge is collapsing!” Panic erupted.  Stampede. Lives lost.  That reckless shout, even today echoes, not from platforms, but from screens.

The internet handed trolls a megaphone, but gave us a mute button that barely works.  What began as digital freedom has warped into a lawless free-for-all, where the illusion of anonymity fuels lies, abuse, and confusion.  Decency and dignity bleed out in the aftermath.

The Delusion of Digital Invisibility

Trolls hide behind three dangerous delusions: that they’re invisible, that cruelty passes for wit, and that abuse equals entertainment.  But the mask is tissue-thin.  Digital footprints left in typing patterns, IP trails, metadata, and social links betray every illusion of invisibility.  Every click, every login, every keystroke is a breadcrumb, investigators can follow home.

The damage is devastating and real.  Fake news has sparked lynchings and crashed markets.  Memes disguise hate as humor.  Doctored images shatter innocent lives.  Anonymous harassment campaigns push victims to despair, sometimes even suicide.  Each venomous keystroke leaves lasting scars on real human beings.

Breaking the Cycle

So how do we stop the chaos?  Not with outrage that feeds the beast.  Instead, starve trolls with silence.  Unfollow, block, report.  Amplify voices that build rather than destroy.  Curate your feeds toward sanity and substance.

Here’s the uncomfortable truth: anonymity is a cracked mirror, reflecting who you are when you think no one’s watching.  Trolls forget, but the internet never forgives, and rarely misses.  Digital stones often boomerang back as investigations, lawsuits, courtroom summons, or social ostracism.

The Path Forward

Type as if your future self is watching.  Every message you post, becomes part of your permanent record, discoverable by family, employers, investigators, and algorithms designed to connect the dots.

This series will update you: perfect privacy is dead, but realness? That’s bulletproof.

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Online Etiquette (1): The Myth of Online Anonymity

Once upon a time, staying anonymous took skill and nerve.  People forged handwriting, mailed letters from far-off places, or whispered through payphones in squeaky voices.  Old-school spy stuff!  Fun to imagine, easy to crack.

Now... forget it.  The digital world’s a glass house.  Every click, swipe, and scroll leaves a glowing trail.  It doesn’t just say where you are; it screams who you are and what you’re doing.

Yes, privacy tools exist: VPNs, encrypted browsers, even the dark web.  But like sunglasses, they shield your eyes, but won’t make you invisible.

Still, trolls spew crude, vulgar comments, convinced usernames and device settings conceal their identities.  Whistleblowers leak secrets, trusting their digital masks will hold.  Both are mistaken.  The internet misses nothing; it takes just seconds to unmask you.

Your phone quietly tattles on your location.  Your ISP logs every connection.  AI pieces together your identity from crumbs you didn’t know you dropped.  Your devices carry fingerprints as unique as DNA.  One lazy login, one slip... and you’re tracked, exposed, and indexed.

Here’s the uncomfortable truth: online anonymity is a fairy tale.  Every search, like, and share builds a pattern.  Machine learning connects the dots before you even log out.

So ask yourself: why hide unless you have something to conceal?  In a world where masks crack, authenticity is the sharpest weapon.  Stand by your ideas.  Own your words.  If you’re going to leave a trail - and you certainly will - make it worth following.

This series will update you: perfect privacy is dead, but realness? That’s bulletproof.

Love (3): The Force That Holds Us Together

Your grandmother waited for years before marriage.  She married a stranger and learned to love him.  You swipe left before someone even finishes saying hello.

Love is no longer a script passed down through generations.  The old way was simple: meet through family, and marry for life.  That page has turned.

Today, love is experiment and rebellion.  In some places, couples cohabit unmarried. Elsewhere, it's punished for crossing boundaries of caste, creed, or theocracy. 

"Till death do us part" has become "as long as this works."  60% of young adults now prioritize personal growth over marriage, asking: Can we love without losing ourselves?

Beyond Romance:

Without love, we're capable of anything.  With it, we're capable of everything.  But love was never just about romance.  The deeper question isn't who you're with.  It's whether you still believe people deserve care. 

Every act of violence begins when love runs dry.  Every cruelty starts when we stop seeing another as human.  Every war ignites when we forget, we belong to each other.

Universal love is the stranger who helps us up, the quiet force that keeps a fractured world from falling apart.  It's what makes us human and keeps us humane.

The Heartbeat of Life:

Why do we love at all?  Because isolation kills faster than disease.  Because hope needs someone to share it with. Because love is what keeps us alive and connected - like the mother who waits up, the partner who forgives, the neighbor who checks in, the stranger who smiles.

Your Choice:

In this fractured age, universal love isn't automatic.  It's a conscious choice to see, to care, and to stay soft in a hardening world. Romantic love may stir the heart. Universal love holds it steady.

The real question: 

In a world losing faith, will you still choose to love, care, and share?

  ▶️ (Click here for Love - Part 1) ◀️

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"Darkness can­not dri­ve out dark­ness; only light can do that. Hate can­not dri­ve out hate; only love can do that.” 

- The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

LOVE (2) —"Forever Is a Fairytale"

Remember the man from Part 1?  Here’s what happened next:

He buys red roses from a florist outside the shop, quietly places them on her car’s rear seat, and hides behind a lamp post to watch.  Minutes later, she comes out.  The moment she gets into the car, she starts rearranging her shopping bags.  Without even a glance, she flings the flowers out.  A passing bus runs over them😢

Sometimes, “forever” is just a fairytale.  Yet we chase love like fools with selective amnesia.  We carry people in our hearts for decades, while they’ve long moved on.

A teenager’s dizzy infatuation?  An adult’s quiet devotion? Or a seventy year-old’s mellow companionship?  Whatever, love always returns us to the same question: Why?

Society sells us grand endings.  But real love lives in the quiet spaces - in the ex who taught us boundaries, in the moments we stayed when we had every reason to leave.

Love is a choice that whispers forever, while the fine print murmurs: “as long as you make me feel heroic.”  Ego says, “I love how I feel when I love you.”  We call it “falling” in love—because no one teaches us how to climb back out.

The Paradox

Lust thrives on dopamine - apps, flirty texts, the high of being wanted. It makes us feel invincible.

But love? Love is oxytocin’s quieter grip, the one that holds on when the thrill has left the room.

Science says passion fades in 18 to 24 months.  Most don’t make it past that curve.  Those who do, stumble upon love’s hidden truth: a quiet graduation - from lust to legacy.

The Fine Print

We vow forever, while ego quietly craves only the feeling.  Gatsby’s tragedy wasn’t that he loved Daisy.  It was that he refused to grow beyond her.

The Final Rule

The hand you held at sixteen may still warm your palm at sixty.  That “I love you” you once whispered, with your whole heart, still echoes in some quiet corner of time.

So love anyway.  Not because it lasts, but because it leaves something behind:  a softer heart, a sharper truth.

What remains isn’t the promise of forever, but the courage to begin again.

  ▶️ (Click here for Love - Part 1) ◀️

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        True love doesn’t stay—it keeps returning. 

LOVE (1): The Magic of First Love

After reflecting on goals, challenges, and the skills to succeed, I now turn to something deeper - Love.  It’s the invisible force that makes living meaningful and survival worthwhile.  For every being on this planet, love is the spark of hope, the lantern of joy, and the path to peace.

This three-part series begins with a quiet story that tells, why we still believe in love’s promises, and why, despite knowing its fragility, we yearn to love and be loved.

In a village in France in early 1900, a boy falls in love with a girl.  They walk hand in hand, whispering sweet nothings and discovering each other.  Alas, good things seldom last long.  Overnight, the girl's family migrates to a distant city. 

Years pass.  One day unexpectedly, the boy, now a middle-aged man, reaches the city.  As he waits to cross the street, a car slows to a halt just ahead and a woman alights.  Her face leaves him transfixed. Fond memories come flooding in...

What happens next reveals something profound about the nature of love, and why, despite knowing better, we keep believing in its promises.  Continued in Part (2).   Join me...

(Edited excerpt from my post publiched in 2015)

**Missed the CAPTURE seties? [Click here ➜]**

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""First love is only a little foolishness and a lot of curiosity." — George Bernard Shaw

CAPTURE (8): Discipline - Break-Down and Build-Back

The CAPTURE series was originally planned in 7 parts. But as it unfolded, one truth emerged - nothing sustains without discipline.

Why?  Because discipline is a key that unlocks clarity over comfort.  In a world chasing shortcuts, it whispers, “Stay the course.” Without it, dreams remain wishes.

Picture this:

* You promise a friend, “I’ll be there at 6.” 

Later, you call: “Running late, be there by 7.”

- That’s commitment.

* Your friend replies, “No problem, I’ll wait.” 

- That’s grace.

*You show up at 7. 

- That’s punctuality.

*But your friend is gone. 

- That’s breakdown in discipline.

*Next day, he says, “Sorry; an emergency.” 

- That’s rebuilding discipline.

This simple exchange reveals something profound: discipline isn’t just personal.  It’s relational.  It can be taught, chosen, forced, or inspired.  But it always demands intention.

We don’t struggle because we’re weak.  We struggle because we’re unclear.  When focus fades, action weakens.  And each broken promise chips away at self-trust.  The cost?  Not just missed goals, but erosion of belief in ourselves.

So what’s the antidote?

- Too hard? > Start small.

- Why bother? > Link it to your values.

- Tired? > Rest, don’t quit.

Freedom isn’t doing what we want.  It’s choosing what matters.  Discipline turns “someday” into today.

In Part 2, we’ll explore: 

If discipline is the backbone of human success, could it also be the blueprint for AI?  Before building Artificial Intelligence, shouldn’t we first define integrity?

**Missed earlier CAPTURE posts? [Catch up here ➜]**

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"“Discipline is choosing what you want most, over what you want now.” —Unknown

CAPTURE (7): Express – The Silence of Hidden Thoughts

Communication (Click for more) connects minds and hearts, but in diverse communities where many languages overlap, linguistic differences can create discomfort or pressure, quietly stifling genuine expression.

Empathy Over Rigidity

Words matter, but intent matters more.  When someone struggles to communicate, show patience, help rephrase, or even switch languages to build trust.

Every language has its rhythm; every accent tells a story.  When words falter, ask: "How can I help get this thought across?"

Practical Tools

- Start with: "Let me think aloud..."

- Rehearse tricky conversations

- Jot thoughts to clear mental clutter

- Ask: "Did that make sense?"

The Cost of Silence

Holding back creates mental distractions and disruptiond.  Unshared thoughts weigh heavy and distance us from others.  Before staying quiet, ask yourself: Is silence helping or hiding?

Common Barriers

- Emotional: Fear, anxiety, vulnerability

- Mental: Overthinking, perfectionism

- Situational: Power gaps, cultural pressure

- Linguistic: Accent bias, fluency gaps

Beyond Words

Pauses, gestures, glances—these often speak louder than words. Sometimes silence carries truth more powerfully than speech.

Breaking Through

- Choose clarity over perfection

- Match tone to listener

- Listen beneath words

- Speak simply, but bravely

You're likely holding a thought right now—a reaction, a quiet question. That very thought is what this post invites you to express.

Break the Silence

Start here. Drop one word, one line, or even just an emoji in the comments. You might spark someone else to speak up.

**Missed earlier CAPTURE posts? [Catch up here ➜]**

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"Culture speaks through words, but connection thrives in silence, gestures, and willingness to meet halfway."

CAPTURE (6): The ATM Effect - Stay Memory-Rich Forever

Imagine a bank ATM that never runs dry.  ATM: Any Time Memory - a cognitive vault where knowledge stays sharp, accessible, and always full. But here's the catch: most people's memory accounts often run low.

Why Bank Balances Drop

Memory fades fast.  According to Ebbinghaus's Forgetting Curve, we lose up to 70% of new information within days, unless we reinforce it.  No regular deposits?  Your mental wealth evaporates!

Build a Strong Portfolio

Every time you retrieve knowledge, your brain strengthens its neural connections.  This "use it or lose it" principle means recall is not just testing - it's training.

Smart Investments:

• Active Recall 

Don't just reread.  Close this tab and summarize what you just learned.  Can't remember?  That's the point.  Wrestling with retrieval, builds stronger, lasting memory.

• Spaced Repetition

Review at spaced intervals - 1 day, 1 week, 1 month.  Tools like Anki help you sync with your brain's natural forgetting rhythm.  Each review is like adding interest to your memory balance.

• Mnemonics

Patterns like "VIBGYOR" for rainbow colors, or "My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nachos" for planets, stick better than plain facts.  [Click here to know more about Mnemonics.]

• Sleep = Savings 

Memory consolidation happens during sleep.  Aim for 7–8 hours.  That's when your brain processes and transfers memories from temporary to permanent storage.

Make Your First Deposit

Start now.  After reading, close this tab and jot down three key takeaways.  That's your first step to lifelong recall.

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"The mind's true wealth is measured not by what it holds, but by what it recalls on demand."

Click here  Anger - What does it do to us😡

Click here  Fake News and Fake People🎭      

Click here  Reading? - Have we stopped?📖

Click here  Greed - Is it devouring us?🤤<

Your voice helps shape Teega. 🌿

After years of sharing my thoughts with you, I’ve come to realise there’s something important missing:

- hearing from you.

To bridge that gap, I’ve created a short feedback form. 

Whether you’ve been following my blog for a while or just landed here today, your thoughts are truly valuable.

Let me know what resonates, what you'd like to see more of, and how I can make your reading experience engaging and meaningful.

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Thank you for being part of this journey. 🙏

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"Your feedback is the light on my path —
without it, I’m flying blind."

CAPTURE (5): Why Smart People Make Dumb Mistakes?

Ever wonder why smart people make catastrophic mistakes?  It’s rarely due to lack of information.  More often, it’s because they miss the meaning of what they hear.  Understanding is more than just receiving data.  It’s like music - not in the notes themselves, but in how they come together to form a symphony.

When Understanding Fails:

In 1999, the Mars Climate Orbiter crashed because of a simple misunderstanding.  One team calculated navigation data in imperial units; the launch team misread it as metric.   Result?  The spacecraft missed Mars by 60 miles and burned up.

The Memory Trap:

Memory supplies the raw material; understanding gives it meaning.  In the spacecraft incident, the facts were known, but the understanding was missing.  It’s like the word boot - shoe in America, a car trunk in Britain!  The same word can mean different things in different contexts.   Memory alone won’t bridge that gap.  Only aligned perspectives can.

Understanding Is a Process:

Understanding doesn’t strike like lightning - it unfolds.  That’s the spirit behind this C.A.P.T.U.R.E series: Concentrate, Absorb, Prioritize, Think, and now, Understand.  The Mars teams skipped “Think”; they didn’t question the obvious.

The Assumption Minefield:

We assume understanding is automatic.  It’s not.  A manager’s 'urgent' might mean today to them, but 'this week' to you.  To bridge this gap:

• Question the obvious
• Translate perspectives
• Confirm comprehension

Your Challenge:

True understanding comes with responsibility.  When given instructions, pause and ask: “Can you clarify what you mean?”

Remember, sometimes, you may be using the same words, but speaking different languages.  The key is understanding its true meaning.  

✍️ Click here to read Part 1 of the C.A.P.T.U.R.E series.  

Stay tuned for the next letter:  “R" – Reflect.

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“The greatest enemy of knowledge isn’t ignorance; it’s the illusion of knowledge.”   — Stephen Hawking

Click here  Anger - What does it do to us😡

Click here  Fake News and Fake People🎭      

Click here  Reading? - Have we stopped?📖

Click here  Greed - Is it devouring us?🤤<

CAPTURE (4): THINK - Where Ideas Come Alive

Part of the C.A.P.T.U.R.E. blog series on teega.com, this episode—THINK—builds on previously uploaded posts: Concentrate, Absorb, and Prioritize.  Thinking isn’t about reacting or rushing.  It’s deliberate reclaiming of attention in a chaotic world - slowing down to process, reflect, and respond with intention.

The Tightrope

To think, is to walk a tightrope between paralysis (endless spirals) and distraction (bottomless curiosity).  What keeps us upright?: 

🪖 Discipline

🚨 Alertness

🎗️ Awareness

And thinking isn’t locked inside our heads.  It flows in the rhythm of a walk, the warmth of a shower, or the scratch of pen on paper.  The Feynman Technique - explaining an idea in simple words to a child - refines clarity and sharpens insight.

Layers of Thought

Thinking unfolds in 3 layers:  

😱 Shallow – fear-driven, reactive  

🧮 Deliberate – conscious, intentional  

💐 Relational – interweaving ideas, like Einstein’s “combinatory play”

It’s composting for the mind - letting ideas mix, settle, and evolve into new growth.  And metacognition - thinking about how we think - helps us confront our blind spots.

Time Travel and Traps

Thinking stitches together our past, present, and future.  But beware of procrastination, which often wears the mask of productivity:

🔍 Endlessly researching

↩️ Replaying scenarios

😴 Postponing or Avoiding decisions for no reasons.

Counter this with:  

⏰ Clear deadlines and the two-minute rule  

👍 Choose 'good enough' over perfect  

✅ Practise 'productive ignorance' - filter out the noise

Reclaim Thinking

Deliberate thought is a quiet rebellion.  Pause.  Reflect.  Your best ideas often wait in the stillness between distraction and decision.

✍️ Click here to read Part 1 of the C.A.P.T.U.R.E series.  Stay tuned for the next letter:  “U" – Understand: Cultivating a mindset of curiosity.

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“Think like you have all the time.....  

But act like you have none."

Click here  Anger - What does it do to us😡

Click here  Fake News and Fake People🎭      

Click here  Reading? - Have we stopped?📖

Click here  Greed - Is it devouring us?🤤<

Capture (3): Prioritize – The Art of Strategic Neglect

Prioritization isn't about doing more—it's about doing less, deliberately.  It's not about what you should do, but what you shouldn't.  It's a one-way bridge from 'Absorb' to 'Think,' allowing only clarity to pass through, leaving clutter behind.

Think of a pianist:

While playing, he doesn’t press every key.  He knows, that would only create chaos, not music.  By choosing only the essential notes, he lets silence shape the melody.  That’s prioritization—the discipline of omission.

The Myth of Important Tasks:

Urgency often masquerades as importance.  Your “to-do” list may look impressive, but it’s the “to-don’t” list that reveals wisdom.  Before chasing tasks, pause and ask: "Is this truly important—or simply passable?"

Absorb → Prioritize → Think:

Absorbing without direction invites disorder.  Before letting information in, reflect:

🤔 Is this relevant to my purpose?

🤔 Will this still matter tomorrow?

Tools for Let-Go Prioritization:

👎 The 24-Hour Test:  If it won’t matter tomorrow, let it go.

👎 The Gut Check:  If it doesn’t spark conviction or curiosity, let it go.

👎 The Editing Mindset:  Like a sculptor, if the excess distracts the final form, let it go.

🪤 The Trap:

Prioritization isn’t a one-time act.  Like a pianist refining his performance, it’s a daily practice of unchoosing what no longer aligns with your goals.  What served you yesterday might be noise today.

Try this today: 

Let go of one task that no longer serves your clarity. Sometimes, progress begins with subtraction.

✍️ Click here to read Part 1 of the C.A.P.T.U.R.E series.  Stay tuned for the next letter:  “T" – Think: Where Clarity Begins.

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“The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.” — William James

Click here  Anger - What does it do to us😡

Click here  Fake News and Fake People🎭      

Click here  Reading? - Have we stopped?📖

Click here  Greed - Is it devouring us?🤤<