Photo credit: Tristan Schmurr

Internet trolls are the bane of social media. They leave inflammatory attacks on blogs, forums and other social media venues in attempts to antagonize and elicit angry responses. They want to start arguments, disrupt conversations and hijack social media platforms to draw attention to themselves.  

Many organizations may avoid social media due to fears of provocative attacks and unfavorable reviews.  A head-in-the-sand approach simply doesn’t work. Organizations with an ostrich-like approach to social media may still suffer attacks, but won’t be aware of them. Savvy organizations monitor social media for complaints and questions about their products and services and act quickly to resolve issues.

Trolls are a different issue. They are known for being hateful, racist and not especially intelligent or even sensible. They typically have few followers and don’t post a real photo of themselves on their social media accounts. Their comments are often unrelated to your business or its products.

Don’t Feed the Trolls

With few followers of their own, trolls use other social media accounts as their shouting platform. Responding angrily will only fuel their fire, and you’ll look as ugly as they do if you stoop to their level.

That’s why many online experts say: “Don’t feed the trolls.” Without food, they’ll usually go elsewhere to spew their venom.

Some trolls are obvious from their first comment; others may appear initially to be like most any other disgruntled customer. If their comments appear to be a normal complaint, treat it as such. The follow-up comments will identify them as trolls.

Depending on the severity and nature of the attack, experts suggest these anti-troll defenses.

Initially, you might try using humor to joke them out of their bad mood.

You might also try to compliment them. Praise may confuse them so much they’ll stop posting.

More Anti-Troll Defenses

What do you do to tame them if they continue attacking?

Block them. You can unfriend, block or report abusive comments to a site administrator. “It is your sandbox and you get to choose who plays in it,” writes Kellie Moeller, president and owner of Salt & Light Consulting Inc. “If the troll is on your property, page, site, etc… you have the right to choose the content and players.”

Moeller also recommends these tips:

If an accusation is true, correct it. Even trolls can sometimes be correct. Fix the situation, apologize, and publically communicate how you fixed it. Humility wins over pride every time.

If it’s false, forget it. Sometimes it’s better to keep your mouth closed and make them wonder rather than open it and expose their stupidity.

Get counsel. Consulting a lawyer may be warranted, depending on the severity of the attack. Harassment is a legal term for trolls who step outside legal boundaries. If someone makes a threat, get legal counsel before responding.

Respond with a photo. A picture may alert others in a fun way to troll behaviors. Insert a troll photo with no words.

Remember that disagreeing does not equal trolling. It takes all kinds to make a world and everyone doesn’t think like you.

Never click on links in a troller’s post. They are known for inserting malicious links.

Bottom Line: Trolls can be a social media nightmare. Trolls seek to inflame emotions and create arguments to gain attention. That’s why ignoring them is often the best advice.

Resources:

Taming Trolls 10 Tips
LinkedIn Pulse

Tips for Handling Negative Comments and Trolls on Social Media
Jeff Bullas

How to Deal with an Internet Troll
Wikihow

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William Comcowich

William J. Comcowich founded and served as CEO of CyberAlert LLC, the predecessor of Glean.info. He is currently serving as Interim CEO and member of the Board of Directors. Glean.info provides customized media monitoring, media measurement and analytics solutions across all types of traditional and social media.