Online trolls are are a gift that keeps on giving in the worst of ways. If you have a public account or have handled any public account ever, you know what a troll is. If you don’t then chances are you’ll find out pretty soon. Online trolls are a community of social media users who thrive on hate and negativity. Keep reading to find out how you can weed them out!
1. Name and Shame!
Many people who get trolled often don’t resort to this. Not because of some holier-than-thou attitude but because they sympathise. However, simply ignoring them just gives them more leeway to ruin your community and reputation.
Trolls rely on their anonymity. 90% of the time anyone who will be trolling will be doing so through a fake account. Or, they won’t like to be announced. By sharing their names with your followers and boycotting them, they’ll think twice before they leave a nasty comment next time.
2. Devise A Commenting Policy
Devise a policy to ensure that your comments section is safe and encouraging for your community. If there’s a troll in your comments insulting and degrading the commenters, they will refrain from commenting the next time. Have a proper policy that shows what is acceptable in your comments and not.
This can ensure that you can simply delete their comments when they leave one or you can even sue them.
3. Fight Back With Facts
Trolls often rely on creating misinformation or sparking controversies. This can hugely damage your reputation and also deter people away from your account. Nobody wants to become a part of a toxic space. If you have encountered a troll who is doing this, fight back with facts! Address any rumour or misinformation and this will quieten them and improve your image.
4. Listen To Them
If you’re a business, most time trolls are past customers who had a bad experience with you. Sure there will be wise ones who won’t go out of their way for revenge, but there will be others too. In that case, listen to them.
Make them feel that they are heard and that you are willing to compensate them for their bad experience. However, be wary because this means fake customers can also hop on board for some compensation. Deal with it smartly!
5. Resort to Humour
Lastly, you always have the option of resorting to good ol’ humour. Most trolls on public platforms love to exaggerate and use metaphors and every big word they can think of. Pakistanis especially have a distinctive love for the word “pathetic”. Regardless, if a troll is being rude and insensitive, strike back with humour or sarcasm
This is an effective strategy because the troll gets snubbed but you can always brush it off by saying it was funny!
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