How to Deal with Trolls on Social Media (A Basic Guide)

Sooner or later, every marketer has to deal with them: they are the trolls on Social Media. If they take it with your brand, you may end up finding yourself in serious trouble maintaining harmony in your community. What can be done?

Dealing with trolls on social media is a matter of not losing your cool and finding the right tone and communication strategy. And for that, you need to know what their motivations are and how you can deactivate them. Let’s take a closer look at who trolls are and how to combat them.

Who are the trolls on social networks, and what do they want from us?

A troll is a user who leaves messages on social networks, usually insistently and repetitively, to attract attention and generate controversy. If left unleashed, they can create chaos in your community and ruin your brand’s reputation.

It’s absolutely critical to distinguish a full-fledged troll from a user who is simply unhappy with your brand. As marketers, we have to realize that having a social media presence means exposing ourselves to negative criticism and feedback. The difference is that a disgruntled user believes they have a real reason to complain and is usually telling the truth, while the troll is only looking to annoy and irritate other people.

There are as many types of trolls as there are people with too much time on their hands, but there are some common “species” that follow similar patterns:

• The picky: he will look for any mistake to sharpen it and leave you bad, from a spelling mistake to a poorly planned legal basis.
• The repetitive one: he posts lots of monothematic messages, he is super insistent and capable of boring the stones. He has a fixed idea, and he will not stop repeating it until he dies.
• The intolerant hate everything and everyone and will not hesitate to spread their bad vibes wherever they go.
• The incongruent: nothing he says makes sense; he only seeks to create chaos. Don’t waste time trying to understand him.

7 Tips for Dealing with Social Media Trolls

1) Define community standards

Sometimes the best offense is a good defense. If you want to protect your community with an anti-troll shield, sit down with your team to define some rules beforehand and hang them somewhere visible, for example, by putting a link in the information on your Facebook page.

You don’t need the rules to be super elaborate, j; st make it clear what types of behavior you find unacceptable and the actions you can take against users who bother you. This way, you can resort to them when you need to delete comments or block a user, for example.

2) Do your research

As we have seen, not all trolls on social networks are the same. Some only think about being annoying, while others may have a genuine complaint. To identify them correctly, the first step to take is to analyze exactly what has happened and who the user is who is bothering you.

3) Try to solve the problem

If you’ve identified that the troll’s comments on social media point to a real problem (even if they’re not right or their particular case has been made up), the first step is to try to solve it transparently.

It’s okay to admit that we’ve made a mistake or that there’s been a problem. By openly and kindly acknowledging this, you’ll be leaving the troll with no arguments, and more importantly, you’ll be showing your entire community that you’re willing to accept criticism and make amends. You may never get the troll to be satisfied, but at least you’ll be protecting your brand’s reputation.

4) Look for an appropriate communication strategy

Do I respond in public or in private? Do I follow the same thread or post a separate message? The best way to deal with trolls on social networks will depend on each specific case, but we always have to think about solving the problem in two different areas: with the user and with the rest of the community.

By definition, social media trolls are not easily satisfied. Many times, you can’t get them to rectify them, but you can use them as an excuse to show the rest of the users that you are capable of weathering the storm with elegance.

5) Ignore them

“Don’t feed the troll” or, as the Spanish saying goes, “there is no greater contempt than not appreciating“. The troll is thirsty for controversy and seeks attention. If you don’t get into their game, they’re much more likely to get tired and just walk away.

Of course, you always run the risk of other users fueling the conflict, but the less you contribute to the “ball”, the better.

6) Don’t Descend to His Level

Remember: if you’re on social media as a marketer, you’re representing a brand, not yourself. Never make the mistake of taking social media trolls personally.

I know it can be difficult, but at the first sign of trouble, avoid answering immediately and stop to take a deep breath. Your answer always has to be well thought out and aimed at lowering the level of conflict, not at being right or disqualifying the troll.

To better manage this type of situation, it can be very useful to design a communication protocol in advance, with typical responses to different species of trolls. This way, you will run much less risk of falling into the temptation of responding thoughtlessly.

7) Use humor

Unless your brand has a very serious and formal tone, humorously responding to trolls is a fantastic way to de-escalate the tension and get users on your side. If you can get them to laugh at the troll’s expense, you’ve won the battle. Of course, be very careful not to joke about sensitive topics, or the strategy could quickly turn against you.