You can find a Facebook groups for anything. I’m serious. A quick look at Facebook and I found the “High Wycombe Skeptics in the Pub” group, the “Postcards from Prison” group and the “Dachshund Owners” group which has almost 100,000 members. Then there are those Facebook groups to which I belong or have belonged to like the “Learn German” group, the “Nippy’s Jammiming Muzikkk Zone” group, and the “Pizzaholics” group. Yes, there are also Leave it to Beaver Facebook groups. As a matter of fact, there are quite a few Leave it to Beaver Facebook groups that are very active.
I have been a member of one such group since 2014. Once you have been a member of a Leave it to Beaver Facebook group for a number of years, it is quite easy to spot a Leave it to Beaver Facebook group troll.
What is a troll?
First of all, allow me to describe a Facebook troll to you. A Facebook troll is someone who typically creates a post in a Facebook group in order to get a number of people upset, or to get readers to make derogatory comments, or to get an argument started among group members. A Facebook troll can also post divisive comments on posts within a Facebook group or on any personal Facebook timeline. Basically, a Facebook troll is just someone who wants to cause arguments or some other type of trouble.
Identifying a troll
So, how does one identify a Facebook troll in a Leave it to Beaver Facebook group? I’ll give you the best example I found within the group in which I was a member. There is one type of post in such a group that is typically quite 
controversial. This post is the, “Kim Hamilton was the only African-American to have a role on a Leave it to Beaver episode and she portrayed a maid!” post. Of course, you’ll have one person quickly comment that she was married to Colonel Klink from Hogan’s Heroes. You will then have three or four others make the same exact comment because they’re the type of group members who only want to be heard, and are not members prone to read ANY previous comments. The comments, depending on whether or not there has been recent news headlines about critical race theory or about white men being the worst terror threat to America or whether or not there is soon to be or has recently been a presidential election, could get quite political and racial.
Yes, talk about anything, but…
Now, don’t get me wrong, there is a place for such posts speaking about African Americans on 1950s or early 1960s situation comedies. However, it is very troll like behavior when a person becomes a member of a Leave it to Beaver Facebook group and on day one of their membership, their first post is like the one mentioned above. And it is very troll like behavior when that same new member creates their second post in the Leave it to Beaver Facebook group on day one and it goes something like this, “Actor Alan Roberts portrayed Beaver’s friend Chuey on the season one episode Beaver and Chuey. That was the only episode in which Hispanic actors appeared in the six seasons of Leave it to Beaver.” That pretty much cements the fact that the person creating those posts is a Leave it to Beaver Facebook group troll. Whether or not that was their total intention, may be up for debate. However, those first two posts are pretty telling.
Other Trollish Topics
Other topics that are trollish in nature, especially if they are someone’s first post, but they could also be honest questions are the following: “Where is Mayfield located?” “What did Ward do for a living?” and “Why did Larry Mondello leave the show?” Each one of these topics have in the past brought about heated discussions on various LITB Facebook groups.
Just don’t be a troll
The #1 thing? Don’t be a troll. Just enjoy the show. Find some positives to write about if commenting or posting on a Leave it to Beaver Facebook group. Several of the surviving cast members and their family members read the posts and comments in such groups. Have some respect. As anyone has noticed, Facebook is not about free speech, especially if you have different views on politics or Covid. And you may be banned from certain Leave it to Beaver Facebook groups if you quote Richard Correll (Richard Rickover), Tony Dow (Wally Cleaver) or Barbara Billingsley (June Cleaver) on why Rusty Stevens (Larry Mondello) left the Leave it to Beaver show.
Sometimes, it’s just better to leave some topics alone. Well, enjoy your next Leave it to Beaver episode, mine is coming up in just a few hours, or less 🙂
