Mid-Day Opinion: Mere paas fat paycheck hai...

I often get fazed by trolls because they are vicious One comment and I am like ldquoOh no I donrsquot want this negativityrdquo Recently I appeared on a podcast where I have shot my mouth off Later at home I got the jitters and messaged the hosts ldquoPlease donrsquot get me cancelled Use contextrdquoBut Rebel Kid just doesnrsquot care Even after the controversy over that infamous Latent episode she is back to being as bindaas as she can She made a video about cutting her Kalawa because it clashed with her Coachella outfit And now in Lock Upp she has attacked popular contestants like Shreya Kalra Varun Yadav aka Laila and Akanksha Chaudhary She was brought on the show as an instigator and she has done the job wellPost her exit Apoorva Makhija has been trolled for being toxic and aggressive mdash and followers of Laila Shreya and Akanksha have been commenting cruel comments on her video As it happens on social media an old video of hers where she is discussing industry casting couches and says she wouldnrsquot compromise herself for a minor role has surfaced However she casually added that she might consider it if a Dubai Sheikh offered her Rs 10 crore to Rs 15 crore And the righteous netizens have got more opportunity to shame herItrsquos here I will say that I have started liking Apoorva Itrsquos not because of her content which I am not a target audience for I also am not a fan of her delivery mdash TBH it grates on my nerves But I am a fan of her courage in the face of faceless people who have no other work but criticise everyone on social media Well I am also doing it but hey I have a face name and some nuance wonrsquot you sayBut Apoorva hit back by saying she made a fat paycheck so thatrsquos what matters By reminding the trolls that she is raking in the moolah she has put them in their place They can attack her as much as they want but itrsquos she who is travelling and enjoying the fruits of her labour mdash in her case itrsquos her talent to ragebait and the instant smile on her face as she does it And the money brands put on influencers like her makes her whole existence justifiable And kudos to herDifferent people on social media have different ways of dealing with trolls Orry who was offended by this writerrsquos column posted on her Instagram accusing her of being jealous of him even as his followers left many caustic remarks Uorfi Javed also likes engaging with her detractors and Kusha Kapila restricted her comment section Others like Sameera Reddy who was routinely fatshamed turned the trolling into a body positivity campaignI am also very impressed by how everyone is able to operate even when the world seems intent on hating you Itrsquos taught me to be more thickskinned in real life especially when you realise in the world we live in people are always watching and always judging Compared to Apoorva the attitude shift I have seen in some friends and colleagues because I post so much is mild and mundane In fact a boyfriend of a friend once decided to excommunicate me just because I was ldquoso extrardquo and so shallow to be ldquoall about social mediardquoIn fact many successful figures categorise trolling as a sign of expanding reach Itrsquos a sign you are finally ldquomaking itrdquo Highperformers view a spike in trolling not as a failure but as an indicator that their content has broken out of its comfortable niche and entered the broader mainstream internet echo chamber Some also monetise the hate by creating reaction videos And some transmute that criticism into creativityI also found something very interesting mdash A comprehensive study by Stanford University and Cornell University ldquoAnyone Can Become a Trollrdquo analysed over 16 million posts on CNNcom The research proved that a userrsquos probability of trolling doubles based on a combination of a bad mood and exposure to an already toxic discussion environment So it really doesnrsquot say anything about someonersquos worthIn the end I would just say take a leaf out of Apoorvarsquos book online and offline If you are losing friends getting criticised unnecessarily and facing the wrath of faceless trolls mdash know that you are finally getting somewhere And in the end the people who support you and stick around for the rise are your peopleSee you next weekRanting and raving about all thatrsquos trending on social media Aastha Atray Banan is an author creator podcaster and the Editor of your favourite weekend read Sunday midday She posts ataasthaatray on InstagramSend your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper