How to deal with online trolls as a Social Media Manager

Social media can often feel like the Wild West, and you can often find yourself navigating a tumultuous environment, mainly because of trolls. Platforms like Musk's X and Zuckerberg's decision to eliminate fact-checking have created a space where online trolls thrive. These keyboard warriors boldly post negative comments without facing real-life consequences, which can be challenging for social media managers and brands to handle.

However, social media also presents incredible opportunities for businesses to connect with their audiences and promote their products or services. So, how can you effectively manage online trolls while maintaining a positive online presence?

Strategies for Dealing with Online Trolls

1. Take Charge of the Comment Sections: Remember that your comment sections are yours to manage. When feasible, respond with informative comments that educate your audience or address genuine concerns. In cases of personal attacks, do not hesitate to block those users. Focus on constructive engagement and protect your team's well-being from negativity or abuse.

2. Diverse Approaches Among Clients: Different businesses adopt various strategies for dealing with trolls. Some opt for direct responses, while others choose to move conversations to private messages. Additionally, a "three strikes" policy can be effective - block users after three rude comments.

Experienced social media managers tend to have this conversation with clients at the beginning of the working relationship. Ultimately, you hope it never happens, and you won't be encouraging it, but it's sensible to agree on how to handle negativity. Especially because you'll get the brunt of it, but the business's reputation can also suffer. You can also stand strong and tell the client that this is how YOU deal with negativity.  

3. Engage with Genuine Concerns: It's vital to distinguish between trolls and customers expressing real issues. While you shouldn't tolerate trolls, responding to authentic feedback is important for the brand's reputation.

Minimising Negative Comments on Social Media Platforms

Instagram:

– Limit Interactions: This feature allows you to restrict interactions from users causing disruptions.

– Hidden Words: Create a custom list of words and phrases that will be hidden from your audience.

Both options can be found in Settings and Activity > How Others Can Interact with You.

TikTok:

– Filter Out Negative Comments: Although TikTok is effective in hiding negative comments, you can still manually filter specific words and phrases and use the Comment Care Mode to protect against bullying.

These settings can be accessed in Settings & Privacy > Privacy > Filters.

Minimising Negative Comments on Social Media Platforms

You spend a lot of time online, so safeguarding yourself from negativity is essential. There's no objection to minimising negative comments and blocking users who do not contribute constructively. And don't forget to report bad comments to the platforms. Although most of the time, no action is taken, sometimes it is. 

Upholding Professionalism Online

Recently, we have witnessed a concerning trend of businesses behaving unprofessionally online, seemingly unaware of the implications. Now, we're not saying that this is coming from social media managers like yourself. It's more than likely coming from business owners who don't really understand social media but it's important to note. 

Maintaining an appropriate/professional presence is critical as in the real world. Always present your client's business in the best light, as customers will notice what you like, share, and comment on. If your client is trolling others on the business account, you need to have a word.

We implemented an advertising strategy aimed at business owners and experienced an influx of rude and troll-like comments, particularly from business accounts. While dealing with trolls is part of the digital landscape, businesses need to understand that professionalism is paramount; trolling under your business name can quickly damage brand trust.

Focusing on professionalism and actively managing online interactions can effectively mitigate the impact of trolls on a business's reputation, but it goes both ways. Don't be caught trolling other people… it's not a good look.