I’ve been blogging for the past 8 years and have seen my fair share of internet trolls both personally as well as to many of my blogging friends. It doesn’t matter if you’re a new blogger or have been blogging for many years, somehow, people think it’s ok to hurt one another’s feelings regardless of their actions or thinking about how their words are going to affect that person.
What Are Trolls?
Trolls are the people online who purposefully stir up trouble in social media communities. It’s important to companies or your business to deal effectively with those trolls so they don’t tarnish your brand or your online presence.
Tips To Handling Them?
1. Decide If You’re The Victim – Trolls are going to come all the time and while you can’t control whether you will become a troll’s target, you can decide if you will make yourself a troll’s victim. Knowing that the troll’s goal is to embarrass, demean and shame you, you have th choice about how you are going to react.
2. Call Out Their Behavior – If you become a victim, many people recommend you simply ignore them and don’t respond at all but sometimes that gives them even more of the power to silence you. Instead, ignore the troll but address the problem with the ‘audience’ in the matter of fact way. Don’t respond in a matter that stoops to the troll’s level or you might risk engaging in an argument that might esculate or your audience may you see as another irritant troll rather than balanced.
3. Don’t Take It Personally – Of course your initial shock is going to be angry or wahtever emotion you decide to feel when someone starts to attack you. But honestly, a mean person is just that- a mean person. It isn’t personal if you refuse to take it personally. Recognize that this troll is the one with the problem. If the attack is directed at you exclusively, via email or a comment on your website, report the abuse, delete it and forget it.
4. Above All- Choose Kindness – If there is one thing I always try to do above anything else, I treat people with kindness. Despite some mean words that could be said about me, I’ll chose kindness any way I can. I’m sure you’ve heard the term ‘kill with kindness’ and that’s the way I will treat others, even if I don’t like how or what things were said about me to someone else.
I totally agree that it is important to address the problem with the audience, not the troll.
-Alexandria
Ugh.. trolls are the worst. I actually just had someone make a not so nice comment towards someone that I had interviewed. I didn't even allow it to be seen. People can be so rude. Great post!
Kendra B.
http://www.helga-marie.com
You go, girl. You handle yourself so well!
Totally agree! Luckily I've been spared to far…
With kind regards, untravelingthemind
These are some great tips! I have never had to deal with one but I know a few people who have!
These are all so true! I just try not to take it personally! And if I do I 100% don’t respond and delete it if able! If I would respond it would be rude back! But I would like to be kind!
Ignoring them is the best. Even if you aren't a victim, responding will just add fuel to the fire.
The best way to deal with trolls is to address their posts in a positive but affirmative way. And then move on.
I love these tips and couldn't agree more! I've never had a problem calling people out 😛
I am super happy to not have had come in contact with any trolls since I started my blog! I would most likely deal with them case by case; some I might try to respond to and inform of why I think what they are saying is incorrect, but if it's obvious that they're just being annoying to try and stir something up, I'd just delete the comment.
Oh internet trolls! Gotta love them. These are all amazing tips on handling them!! I know that a lot of social media influencers have addressed them head on but did it with class.
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I feel like ignoring the trolls really annoys them since they love attention. If I can't ignore them, I kill 'em with kindness 🙂
I would add another one: don't be afraid to block them. I had a terrible person who would not stop commenting on my blog. I use comment moderation now because it was the only way I could stop giving her a platform.
The Internet spines are a gathering of systems that connection to a great degree intense super-PCs.clear history
I try to not take it personally! They're usually bored and unhappy with their lives. Great post!
xx Carly | http://www.thecarlycollective.com