Some are criticising the family for allowing such a small child on a quad bike.

Relative Chantelle Zingel was forced to defend her family from judgmental and vindictive comments posted on The Daily Advertiser’s Facebook page. 

It’s an alarming trend happening everywhere on the back of the rapid rise of social media.

‘Trolls’, as they’re commonly known, find pleasure in posting controversial or offensive comments to spark reaction.

These trolls can easily walk away from the screen or leave the page, washing their hands of any involvement or ignoring the consequences.

It’s the online version of a king hit.

There’s others fitting a different mold of the online troll too.

One of the most alarming trends is the rise of the ‘keyboard warrior’, which is someone hell-bent on having their opinion heard.

These people differ from trolls, because they don’t set out to deliberately hurt people, but instead, have little-to-no regard for the resulting fall out caused by their words.

The transformation of social media and the way people interact with each other online has blurred the lines between reality and fiction.

Especially when it comes to consideration for the wider repercussions of certain people and their feelings when something is being posted for the world to see.

It boggles the mind to know there are people out there who believe making a Facebook comment is different to preaching in a crowded public space.

Even less people regularly consider the potential legal implications coming with language deemed to be slander or incriminating. 

Our relatively early years of embracing the internet will be marked as a significant time in history.

It will be at least partly defined as the stone age of the digital world, where its users failed to take seriously the power words in a day of instant, easy-access and wide-spread communication.

We can change this by asking ourselves a simple question before making a comment on a public Facebook post – would I say it to this person’s face?