Trolls thought they won, until she shared this video - Naomie Pilula's story

When a photo of Zambian content creator Naomie Pilula began trending on social media, she was quickly thrust into the uncomfortable spotlight of online ridicule.

What followed was a wave of hateful comments directed at her appearance, reopening old insecurities she thought she had overcome. But instead of letting the trolls define her, Naomie turned to faith and reflection to reclaim her confidence.

Naomie has been steadily growing her audience on Instagram, with her following doubling in just two months. However, the rapid growth exposed her to a side of the internet she had never encountered before.

For the last two months or so, my following has grown a lot. It’s doubled. And by the way, welcome on board. I love you. Let’s have a great time together. But that has also made me exposed to a side of Instagram that I’ve never been exposed to.

So my videos have also been exposed to audiences that I normally wouldn’t be exposed to. One of the repercussions of that is that I have people commenting on my videos that are just plain mean.

For someone who had never faced such negativity online, the comments were startling. Naomie recalls being taken aback, moving from shock to disappointment, and finally to anger.

At first, Naomie tried to manage the situation by deleting hateful comments. But it quickly became overwhelming.

I started deleting whichever comments that I felt were mean. And then I quickly became tired of that because, fam, I do work and I do have a life outside of Instagram.

In a moment of anger, she even responded to one troll publicly, posting a video to address it. Her loyal followers defended her, which restored her faith in the goodness of people. Yet after speaking to her sister, she realised that reacting to hate was not the solution.

Her sister asked her to dig deeper and question why certain comments hurt more than others. That simple question forced Naomie to confront insecurities she had carried since childhood.

Old wounds reopened

Growing up, Naomie often faced remarks about her appearance, especially her facial features. These comments left her feeling insecure for many years.

Though she eventually grew to accept and even like her appearance, the online insults threatened to unravel that progress.

When it comes to appearance and stuff, I grew up having a lot of comments around my appearance, my nose, other features of my face, other features of my body. And so I was very insecure about my appearance for a very long time. And then, thank the Lord, I started liking myself. Not just loving myself, I actually started liking myself and exactly how I’m made.

When hateful remarks about her features resurfaced online, Naomie recognised that they were triggering those old wounds. Instead of spiralling into self-doubt, she sought solace in her faith.

For Naomie, her Christian faith provided both comfort and clarity. Reflecting on scripture reminded her that her appearance was not an accident but part of God’s design.

I was reminded of the scripture about how we are woven together in our mother’s womb. And the fact that God saw us even before we were created.

He is the one who knit us together. That tells me that every intricate detail of even my features was something that God put thought and time into. Not just mine, but every single living person on this earth.

This realisation reframed the insults. To Naomie, mocking her physical features was no longer just an attack on her, but a dismissal of the Creator who made her.