Internet trolls are top of the list of things that people would like to see gone from the Internet in 2022.
NordVPN asked people what they would like to delete from the internet forever and not bring into the new year. More than a third of them (32%) answered that they would like to see internet trolls disappear alongside information users previously shared online (30%) (such as contact information, intimate messages, photos, and Twitter and Facebook posts).
Interestingly, every tenth respondent wanted to see social media gone in general.
“The survey showed that people want to see a more friendly and safe internet with no cyberbullying coming from trolls and more control over their own information. And with 2022 already here, I think we all should include ‘more internet privacy’ in our resolutions list,” says Daniel Markuson, a digital privacy expert at NordVPN.
People also wanted to see gone from the internet things someone else had posted about the respondent (6,5%), their children’s or family member’s information (4,7%), and streaming platforms (1,9%).
“New year – new internet” sounds nice, but it is a very unlikely scenario. So I would propose thinking of new online habits all of us could acquire this year to make the internet a safer place,” says Markuson.
- Don’t overshare on social media. In 2022, start thinking more critically about what you post online and go through your privacy setting to make sure no bad actors can stalk you.
- Don’t feed the trolls. Internet trolls post provocative comments to annoy people, to start arguments, or just to express hate. The best strategy to fight trolls is to ignore their comments and not become involved in meaningless arguments.
- Use encrypted messaging apps. Since messages hide the darkest secrets of our lives, it’s best to mitigate the risk of somebody intercepting them. Choose messaging apps with end-to-end encryption so the contents of your conversations remain private.
- Avoid giving out your personal information. Various services and websites ask us for personal data, and most of us share it. However, we can’t be certain how this sensitive information will be stored. Create a separate email for online registrations and share as little data as possible.
- Use a VPN. A virtual private network redirects your internet data through an encrypted tunnel and hides your IP address, thus improving your online privacy and security.