I was on Snapchat until I became a victim of trolling. I didn’t use it a lot. I sent a couple of kitty snaps to my hubby. I also followed some members of my favorite rock bands on there. They posted snaps of various cities where they were touring so their snaps played like a travelogue. They were interesting. 

A week or so ago I received a friend request from a woman I used to work with, someone I hadn’t seen or spoken to in five years. With no reason not to, I accepted. 

I then began to receive a series of disjointed snaps, snaps that looked like someone was just trying to learn how to use the app. There were blurry pictures of dark haired boys who looked looked like they might’ve been some of my ex-coworker’s four sons. I didn’t respond. There wasn’t anything really to respond to. I’m not a heavy Snapchat user so I let them pass by without comment. 

The snaps kept coming. I got pictures of furniture, pictures of curtains, and the profile picture appeared to be of a young man, maybe a teen or a preteen even. 

I showed one of the snaps to a friend, and she commented, “It looks like she’s butt dialing you!” The snaps made no sense. 

I ended up unfriending the Snapchatter, hoping the senseless and relentless snaps would stop.

Last night was the straw that broke the camel’s back. I guess the user didn’t like my unfriending them. Somehow I received another chat. This one was a cartoon graphic, showing an index finger being inserted into a circled thumb and index finger on the other hand. And to be certain I knew they were simulating sex, they used their finger to draw a penis and testicles in red in the center of the screen. 

I blocked the user. When Snapchat asked why, I checked the box that said they were harassing me. I then emailed the woman I used to work with using her work email address. I told her what happened. I don’t know if it was someone she knows or if it’s just someone who hijacked her name or account. I wish I had thought to do a screen capture. I was so disgusted I closed the screen before I thought to do so.

Today I thought further about it, and I felt violated. I don’t want to be part of a platform that allows that kind-of garbage to happen. I deleted my account. 

Trolling is defined: “make a deliberately offensive or provocative online posting with the aim of upsetting someone or eliciting an angry response from them”. Yep. That’s what it is alright. It sucks.