Putting Peace Trolling Into Practice

As Quakers we are enjoined to be patterns and examples in all places wherever we may come. As this second quarter of the twenty-first century unfolds, is Peace Trolling a way to keep hope and the spirit of the divine alive?

Janie’s Peace Trolling approach seeks to recognise and engage with the human behind the comment, speaking to ‘that of God’ in the other, replacing argument with connection and honouring the values, voices and longings of each party.
What becomes possible when we do this? What opportunities are created for dialogue, interaction and change?

In this session, Janie will share her experience as an ‘armchair activist’. She will share the model she has developed, which is a simple 5-step habit hack synthesised from the 1970’s Nonviolent Communication (NVC) model with further recent understandings from Sociology, Psychology and Neuroscience. Janie will explore how this approach makes a difference to those who receive her response and to others reading the thread in social media spaces; but also, how online practice grows our personal capacity to show up in the world generally in line with our values.

“Social media,” Janie points out, “Provides an excellent non-urgent practice space to enhance our skills in responding peaceably which we can then take into our face-to-face communication with friends or family, within work emails, and in Quaker Meetings too!”

In this 90-minute workshop session, Janie will share with us the model she uses, invite discussion, and open the opportunity to develop your own skills at creating an empathic response within small break-out practice groups.

This session is for you if you are wondering how to interrupt patterns of aggression within social media threads, to build connection with those that see the world very differently to you, or to consider whether there is a role for you at times as an ‘armchair peace activist’, part of a grassroots movement changing the world for good from your own home, one comment at a time.

So that we can start from a shared basic understanding of the components of this approach, please read Janie’s article on her Peace Trolling approach in The Friend here. When you register for this session, a second short document will also be sent to you to read before the session.