With their colorful hair, (arguably) adorable faces, and even cuter outfits, many millennials spent their childhoods collecting trolls. But when it comes to the internet, the social media troll is very different. Nostalgia aside, this troll should be avoided by social media managers of all ages.
Whether they’re fooling around or just stalking your accounts, internet trolls can wreak havoc on social media experts. Sometimes their messages can be just annoying. In other cases, the troll may unleash a full-blown hate attack that will wreak havoc on your mental health.
It would be great if we could avoid trolls entirely, but the internet is a deep and dark place. In your travels, you will definitely meet trolls. Luckily, we have tips and tools to help fix any troll problem before it gets out of hand. We’ve even included some expert tips from Hootsuite’s own social media team. Read on to find out what to do when the trolls attack.
Who is an online troll?
An internet troll uses the internet to deliberately provoke or cheer up others. Their actions can be a minor irritant or cause a major problem.
The term “troll”usually refers to someone who maliciously harasses, attacks, or intimidates others. They may take your words out of context, spam you with offensive content, or even use racist, homophobic, misogynistic or other hate speech. These trolls serve no purpose other than to make your life miserable and must be dealt with quickly.
Are there harmless trolls?
There are several different types of trolls, and not all of them are malicious. Some trolls do all this for their own pleasure. These are the ones who mess around with brands, make fun of celebrities, and make jokes that don’t offend anyone.
These trolls can still be a nuisance to brand managers, but they can also be a lot of fun on social media. Some social media brands, such as Wendy’s, are known for playing along with trolls or even toasting other brands.
Do you want roast or do you prefer roast? #NationalRoastDay
— Wendy (@Wendys) January 12, 2022
Note: Don’t forget that a dissatisfied customer is not a troll. Someone lashing out over your product or service is not the same as a troll wreaking havoc for it.
How to Know You’re Dealing with a Social Media Troll
How to recognize a troll? Dealing with these lying devils is a delicate dance. After all, the last thing you want to do is assume that one of your respondents is a troll when he is just a well-meaning weirdo.
But there are a few tell-tale signs that you’ve fallen into the trap of a social media scammer:
- You feel excited. This may not always happen, but there may be something wrong with your interaction with the troll. If their response seems strange or out of proportion, this may be the first sign to look for other clues.
- They don’t make sense. Internet trolls can be especially good at presenting absurd ideas in pseudo-intelligent language. (Much like politicians, actually…)
- They don’t stay on topic. Again, this is what evil people do online all the time. But the troll might change the subject to something too stupid, seeming random or downright stupid. Or they may respond with an unrelated image or link.
- They call you names. We have established that there are good trolls and bad trolls. The bad guys can lazily use whatever buzzword is popular at the moment. If they’re referencing eye-rolling memes like “Deez Nuts”or trying to rick-roll you, consider that a wake-up call.
- They are forgiving. When the troll manages to piss you off, he has won. Their next step is to act like everything is fine, or even pretend to be surprised that you are annoyed. If you’re not alert, this answer may upset you even more.
- They are ruthless. Most internet users are easily distracted and wander off topic. But if someone is endlessly pouring gasoline on your mentions, there’s a good chance they’re having too much fun – and probably trolling.
9 tips to deal with social media trolls
So the clues suggest that the account might be trolling you, but now what?
Here are some tips on how to deal with social media trolls and stay calm on your brand’s social media page.
1. Just ignore them
Sometimes it all comes down to willpower. Trolls love socializing, so they won’t be able to play their cruel game unless they have a willing participant. Hence the popular phrase “Don’t feed the trolls” on the Internet.
You should maintain a steely appearance and avoid bait hits whenever possible. This is not always possible, so proceed at your own discretion. If a troll starts fights with your customers, or generally makes your social media an unsafe place for others, don’t leave them alone.
We know how excited you all are for responding to #AfterWeFell, but we also want to keep our page free of spoilers. Enjoy the movie and please be polite and respectful to other members of the community.
— After Ever Happy Movie (@aftermovie) September 1, 2021
A page promoting the movie After We Fell urged followers not to spoil the movie online.
Just be careful before adopting a “ignore all negativity”policy. Nick Martin, Hootsuite’s own social listening and engagement strategist, recommends evaluating angry messages first to see if they might be real.
“Don’t reply to someone who just wants to pester a brand and gain popularity online. But if someone has a legitimate reason to be upset, you’ll want to find a way to interact with them and hopefully solve their problem. At the very least, their comments can be valuable customer feedback.”
– Nick Martin, Social Listening and Engagement Strategist
2. Install the policy
If possible, set the rules of behavior on your page. Every social network platform has a code of conduct. You can do the same even if you don’t want to write complex legal language.
For example, if you’re running a Facebook group, you can pin a post that sets the tone for the conversation, using language that encourages users to “be respectful of the conversation.”You can also put a statement or rule (without being too overbearing) in your profile description. This way you can go back to recommendations if you need to delete a comment, report a troll, or even block someone.
Dealing with the troll problem can be especially troubling when you’ve pre-scheduled your posts and then moved on to whatever other work you’ve accumulated on your to-do list. But social listening tools like Hootsuite let you stay on top of your replies and comments (both good and bad).
If you’re using Hootsuite Streams to listen to social media, you’ll be able to monitor and respond to conversations across platforms from one simple dashboard. This means you can monitor your comment section and stop trolls as soon as they start posting.
Nick Martin (yep, that’s him in the video above) recommends using Streams to monitor conversations that don’t even mention your brand by name.
“For the most part, your responses will be trolls, but sometimes they talk about your brand without mentioning you directly.
Set up listening streams that include your brand name, product name, and even the names of your executive team. It’s also important to include common spelling errors in your brand’s keywords. In the case of Hootsuite, we include terms like ‘hoot suite’, ‘hootsuite’ and ‘hootsuit’ to collect as many relevant mentions as possible.”
– Nick Martin, Social Listening and Engagement Strategist
You can’t treat social media as an afterthought, even if you’re running a major operation. Social media listening tools like Hootsuite are a great start, but you have to be prepared to keep an eye on them. This is why the best troll responses come from experienced social media managers.
If you find yourself overwhelmed by negative comments, can’t stay up to date with your responses, or differentiate between good and bad interactions, you need to resource your brand accordingly. After all, some bad comments can reflect badly on your brand as a whole.
5. Explore the Internet
If you are going to work in a certain place, you need to familiarize yourself with the environment. This is just as true in real life as it is on the Internet.
This means you need to familiarize yourself with the bigger internet trends as well as those that are relevant to your brand’s niche. You don’t need to know everything, but you do need to pay attention to what’s going on so you’re less likely to be deceived.
And if you ever get confused, some resources can help you. Websites like Urban Dictionary and Know Your Meme are great tools to use. They can help you understand why people are flooding your feed with the same image or confusing phrase.
Hey Xbox! My 9 year old is screaming at the top of his lungs as he can’t log in. When I try to calm him down, he throws his controller at the wall and it shatters into pieces. Now he is threatening to run away. Please fix this.
— Official Derek (Seth Jones for Norris) (@GregHef10802177) February 25, 2021
Xbox Support prudently ignored this obvious lure.
6. Think Twice Before You Answer
Sometimes it’s obvious when the troll doesn’t demand a response, but other times you may be drawn into a prank without realizing it. If this happens, don’t beat yourself up! There are many examples of big business-supporting Twitter accounts that unwittingly responded “I’m so sorry this happened to you”to an account with an offensive or humorous title.
But don’t forget to take a breath and think twice before hitting Reply. If you are working in a space where anyone can respond, you need to be on the lookout.
7. Get higher
You thought it over, looked at the context clues, and mentally counted to ten. If you still think it’s a good idea to respond, you can start coming up with a response to a social media troll. Just don’t let emotions get in the way.
Remember: you have an audience and there is a good chance they will see how you react to the troll. If you rise above the situation and communicate with poise, you will be able to resolve the issue quickly. You can also win big brownie points from the rest of your followers.
you are a toaster
— Bungie (@Bungie) May 4, 2022
Bungie’s infamous response to the anti-choice troll earlier this year was a masterclass in smart and concise response.
8. Roll back
This is a more advanced method and shouldn’t be used all the time, but if it suits your brand and the script is mostly harmless, you can incorporate trolling into your broader marketing plan.
The best example is the old man. Think back to 2017 when Carter Wilkerson asked Wendy’s how many retweets he needed to get free chicken nuggets for a year. This is easy, stupid behavior that the brand could just ignore. Instead, they turned it into a whole – and it became one of the most viral moments of the 2010s.
HELP ME PLEASE. A MAN NEED HIS NUGS pic.twitter.com/4SrfHmEMo3
— Carter Wilkerson (@carterjwm) April 6, 2017
Obviously, you should not copy this particular marketing ploy. However, if you approach online trolls with an open mind (and be very, very careful), you can use their responses as a marketing win. Just make sure you know exactly what you’re doing.
9. Block or delete
Another piece of advice suggests that deleting the troll’s comments will only make them more angry. But if someone uses hate speech or makes your audience uncomfortable, you need to deal with it.
Think of it like graffiti on your storefront. You don’t want these comments to be a stranger’s first impression of your brand.
The main thing, as always, is caution. Using common sense, you can determine if someone is engaging in dishonesty. If they cross the line by inciting hatred or making someone feel uncomfortable, give them an axe.
On platforms like Instagram and Facebook, you can remove or hide rude comments. Twitter also allows you to hide comments, but on that particular platform it’s usually better to block them.
likewise, everyone else immediately reads “hidden replies”as soon as they see them under any tweet, even if it is the opposite of the intended effect or
— Alana Pierce (@Charalanahzard) September 2, 2020
If you hide replies on Twitter, an icon will be added to the original post to act as a beacon for other curious trolls. That’s because those replies aren’t gone forever – anyone who knows how to click the icon can view the hidden comments. This can cause trolling to snowball.