Handling Social Media Trolls With Ease

social media trolls

Social media trolls are out to create drama on the internet. These are people who intentionally start arguments or post inflammatory messages just to get a rise out of others. They actually enjoy making others angry or upset.

If you see trolls responding to other people, it’s better to just ignore it. But what are you supposed to do when someone starts trolling you? Well, how you react in this situation makes all the difference. That’s why you should know how to properly handle it!

Handling Social Media Trolls With Ease

The next time you encounter those pesky social media trolls, remember to keep your cool and think before you react with a response of your own. And then use these tips to handle the situation and diffuse it in the best way possible.

1. First, Determine if Someone is Actually a Troll

There’s actually a difference between social media trolls and a customer that’s genuinely upset. And it’s important that you know which is which because you’ll want to deal with each one in a specific way. Trolls are just here to cause trouble. It’s unlikely that they’ve ever purchased your product or service. Plus, when you look at their profile, you’ll probably see that they’ve trolled other brands as well. That’s a definite red flag.

Unhappy customers, however, have actually spent time and money with you. If they have an issue, they deserve a response and you should work to correct the situation if possible. You never want to ignore a genuine customer because it could reflect poorly on your brand. Listen to what they have to say and do your best to make it right.

These tips on using Twitter for customer service will be helpful!

2. Create Your Own Policy for Social Media Trolls

Decide right here and now how you plan to handle social media trolls going forward. By having your own policy in mind, you’ll be prepared should the situation arise. (Although, let’s hope you never have to deal with trolls giving you grief!) Use this policy across all social media platforms and even in the comments section on your blog because trolls can show up there too.

3. Never Stoop to Their Level

The first thing to keep in mind is that you never want to become a troll yourself. If someone sends you an insulting message, don’t respond with an insult of your own. It just gives the troll more ammunition to keep the conversation going.

Take a deep breath and respond in a calm, cool, and collected way. Send positivity in your reply. Respond with facts if their post was inaccurate. Or if it’s in your nature, use humor to diffuse the situation.

4. Simply Ignore the Post

But guess what? You don’t have to respond to social media trolls if that doesn’t feel good to you. Trolls want to get your attention and once you respond, they’ve got it. And it only gives them more fuel to keep things going. Instead of wasting your time with arguments, ignore the troll’s post and move on with your day.

5. Don’t be Afraid to Mute or Block

You have every right to mute or block accounts that are causing trouble for you. So, if you find yourself dealing with social media trolls that just won’t quit, a simple click of a button will banish their posts from your feed and peace can be restored.

Do keep in mind that some people will get annoyed once they realize they’ve been blocked. And there’s nothing stopping them from creating a new account to pester you further. If that does happen, just handle the situation exactly as you did before.

6. And if it Goes Too Far, Report the Post

Threats or any other abusive behavior should be reported. Luckily, social media platforms make it easy to report inappropriate comments made by users. If someone gets nasty, report, block, and put it out of your mind. Never respond with threats of your own.

7. Focus on Cultivating a Positive Community

Social media is incredible for its ability to bring the world together. But unfortunately, that does open us up to a world of negativity. It’s just something that we have to deal with, especially as our brands grow and garner more attention.

That’s why it’s so important to remain positive with dealing with social media trolls. And also encourage healthy interactions with the supportive part of your community.