Need help dealing with negative comments and trolls on social media?
Some negative comments are actually useful. They contain genuine feedback that’ll actually help you improve your content.
Others are downright mean and only meant to hurt you.
In this post, we discuss how to deal with internet trolls and keyboard warriors along with the different types of negative comments you’ll receive.
The dark side of social media
When you browse social media yourself, you’re likely not aware of how much of a problem internet trolls actually are.
This is because by the time you view a piece of content, the post likely already has hundreds or even thousands of comments that are burying any negative comments the creator received.
As a creator, you get to see a different side of social media that’s a lot darker than you were expecting. This is especially true if you’re a smaller creator and can easily read every comment you receive.
To understand internet trolls, you need to understand the complexity of humanity as a whole.
Some of us are kind by default due to how we were raised or how we genuinely approach the world.
Unfortunately, some of us are also miserable and must take that misery out on something. And some of us are just downright immature.
When you add the internet, a place where anonymity boldens mean and immature individuals, to the mix, you get negative comments.
This is why internet trolls are sometimes called keyboard warriors: they’re only brave enough to poke fun at others under the veil of anonymity.
Unfortunately, negative comments can arise from anything.
Your posts may reach the wrong audience, causing your comments to be filled with nothing but negativity.
Mean social media users may pick something they don’t like about your appearance and do nothing but flood your comment section with jokes about it.
And if you anger social media users, you get to learn about a side of social media that’s even darker: death threats, doxxing and swatting.
Doxxing refers to the release of your personal information online, usually your home address and personal phone number.
Swatting refers to an illegal practice of using an anonymous phone number to report a fake tactical situation at someone’s place of residence, leading to a tactical response at that place of residence.
This is why it’s recommended that you protect your personal information as much as possible, which includes not taking videos or pictures around the area where you live, especially your street.
Fortunately, most trolls are only interested in posting one negative comment before moving onto the next target.
Remain cool, calm and collected
When you come face to face with a jerk in real life, you’re often told to be the bigger person, and for good reason. The situation only escalates if someone doesn’t approach it with a level head.
The internet is no different, especially social media.
Not only can responding to internet trolls lead to death threats and doxxing, it may work against you.
Some of your followers will likely have your back, but others may see you as nothing more than a hothead who’s no different than the troll you’re responding to, even if your anger is justified.
So, if you receive negative comments on your posts, try to remain cool, calm and collected.
Picture yourself as a parent or a teacher and the trolls as misbehaving children. After all, you wouldn’t get into a screaming match with an eight-year old in real life.
…Right?
And because so many parents give their kids unrestricted access to the internet, for all you know, that troll is an eight year-old.
So, if you feel the need to reply to a negative comment, be kind yet assertive.
Do not halt your social media schedule
Negative comments, especially a whole pile of them at once, gives you a reality check. They make you start to question how much you want to make it on social media.
If making social media content is something you truly want to do in life, do not let trolls stop you.
A kind audience is out there somewhere, and you won’t find them by hiding in the shadows.
Manage your entire social media inbox from one dashboard
If you post to multiple social media platforms, consider using a social media management tool.
SocialBee and Pallyy are both great options here.
They both offer a social media scheduling tool and an inbox feature that allows you to manage your comments, direct messages (DMs) and mentions for multiple platforms in one place.
But they take different approaches.
SocialBee has a ‘real-time’ social stream and Pallyy uses a social inbox.
Both tools make it easier to monitor and respond to comments.
Filter out hateful and inappropriate speech
Some comments are entirely useless. They include hate speech and sexually-explicit phrases.
You can put anything in your blacklist to prevent comments and DMs filled with certain words from being posted.
For example, if you truly hate spiders, create a blacklist for every word that could possibly do with spiders to prevent your viewers from mentioning them.
However, it’s much more productive to enter a search term like “list of words to block on social media” into Google to find a list of racial slurs and inappropriate phrases and terms you can simply copy and paste into your blacklist on every social media platform you’re active on.
If you do come across hate speech or inappropriate filters that passed your blocklist, delete them and report them.
Do not respond to every negative comment
There may come a time when you receive a lot of negative comments. It’ll likely be when other members of your niche have a different opinion on something or when your video contains something viewers find too funny or strange to ignore.
Some comments are light-hearted jokes, but others will be downright mean or hateful. Again, delete any that are too hateful.
When it comes down to it, pick your battles.
You may think you’re standing up for yourself by responding to every negative comment, but your viewers will see a creator with a thin skin who can’t take a joke or an ounce of criticism.
Do not disable the comment section
You may be tempted to disable the comment section to prevent even more negative comments from being posted, but I highly advise against doing this.
The comment section is a vital component of social media. Many users spend more of their time in the comment section of a video than they do actually watching the video itself.
If you disable this feature, your viewers aren’t going to quietly watch your content. They’re going to scroll to a new post and forget all about you.
Thank your viewers for helpful feedback
Some negative comments are genuine feedback delivered in a mean and condescending way.
But if the comment is actually helpful, respond kindly by thanking them for pointing something out.
They may even respond back in a kinder tone and maybe even an apology.
Other viewers will be impressed by how calm you’re able to be when faced with rude criticism.
Own up to mistakes
If you made an obvious mistake that a lot of viewers are commenting on, it may not be enough to respond to a single comment about it.
Respond to the most popular negative comment, then make a video addressing the mistake.
You need to fight bad publicity with good publicity. This is where that good publicity starts.
Build a support system for yourself
Negative comments aren’t only bad for the brand you’re trying to build. They’re also bad for your mental health.
This is why it’s so important that you build a support system for yourself outside of social media.
Build up your personal relationships with your friends and family, and take time for yourself at least once a week.
Consider seeing a therapist as well.
Do your best to mitigate certain comments, or own it
Social media users will comment on anything.
If you have something inappropriate in the background of your video, they’re going to comment on it.
If you have a bulge in your groin area or are “curvy in all the right places,” they’re going to comment on it.
It’s inevitable.
If this is something that bothers you, make sure your background and your own body are presented in a way that gives your viewers nothing to comment on but your content.
You can also change nothing about yourself and post a video calling these commenters out. It’s entirely up to you.
Consider a social media detox
Yes, we do advise not giving up on social media altogether, but that doesn’t mean you can’t take a little break.
A social media detox is normally used as a scheduled break from social media for a specified period of time. The break is usually spent reconnecting with the outside world.
If internet trolls and negative comments are getting to you too much, consider taking an unscheduled social media detox for one or even a few weeks.
Address the situation when you get back, but then get back to your regularly scheduled programming so you can start moving on from the situation.
Final thoughts
Social media algorithms are driven by engagement and even the negative comments can help your content reach more people.
So, that is a silver lining of sorts.
Just remember that you don’t need to respond to every negative comment. You don’t even have to respond to any of them if you don’t want to.
There’s not a foolproof way of dealing with trolls. You’ve got to find an approach that works for you.
So, take the tips above and experiment.
And If you feel you need it, take a social media detox so you can come back refreshed.
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