Dealing with social media trolls on the brand account
They can cast a long shadow over a social media manager’s day, or keep them up all night. Internet ‘trolls’, as we’ve referred to them with undeserved affection since the late ’80s, spend much of their time online leaving harassing, distressing, or provocative comments in response to individuals and businesses.
If a troll happens upon a social post or campaign ad you’ve created for a client, deciding how to deal with it can feel challenging. Remember to breathe, drink water, relax your jaw, roll your shoulders, and try to stay calm. We’ve written up some tips on how to approach the web’s nasties.
But first, let’s define what an Internet troll actually is:
What actually is an Internet troll?
‘Trolling’ is a specific form of online abuse and cyberbullying. It’s not quite the same as obvious targeted attacks or outright hate speech, but it can be used to fulfil the same intentions. If direct attacks are a lunging blade, trolling is a luring trap.
Trolls play manipulative mind games to bring people down.
An example: whereas someone committing a targeted attack might blatantly use offensive, bigoted, and derogatory language, a troll will be disarming in more subtle ways — perhaps diminishing a person’s views by replying to their lengthy, thought-out posts with a ridiculing meme that undermines the seriousness of their statements.
A troll’s goal is to trick people into reacting in a certain way, baiting them into public displays of anger which they may weaponise to provoke them further.
What isn’t an Internet troll?
Typically, the job of a social media marketer (SMM) is: build a strategy, create campaigns and content aligned with that strategy, and act as the brand’s online voice to represent the business and manage public engagement.
When you helm the channels through which most people will air their gripes about a brand, it can be easy to take it personally. Customers with legitimate complaints aren’t trolls, though, and social media managers should have a regularly-updated customer service workflow in place. This is especially vital when brands are called out in a difficult troll-like way, but for real reasons which warrant a response.
During PR emergencies, a brand might even want to hire a crisis comms crew.
Some trolls may disguise their ‘bait’ as real complaints, but seasoned SMMs are web-savvy enough to detect this. Need help managing your community? Contact us.
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1. Stay calm
Reiterating the above: your job is to act as the brand you represent, but you aren’t actually the brand you represent. Keeping your personal emotions away from instances of trolling can help you navigate your response plan more easily.
If the person you’re replying to is an aggravated customer, trust yourself to find a legitimate solution — either a tried-and-tested course of action or something new and intuitive for uncharted problems.
If they’re a troll, try to relax — some internet users just want to set things on fire and don’t care who gets burned. Occasionally, a brand with a witty Wendy’s-esque voice and a loyal following of fans might be able to get away with crushing trolls, but that’s a fine art that can take years to perfect.
2. Assessing whether they’re a troll or a customer
Some social media management platforms will help you build individual customer profiles, so you’ll quickly be able to see a full history of their purchases, messages, and other information that’ll aid with writing a response. But let’s assume you’re not using a system of that ilk, and all you’ve got to go on is a person’s language.
If they’re a customer:
They’ll likely know your product, so their enquiry will include some authentic details a random troll wouldn’t know about
They’ll probably mention some specific expectations they’re hoping to get from you
They might use some colourful wording, but nothing too extreme or threatening
If they’re a troll:
They’ll be very vague about what they want from you, but will act far more entitled than a real customer who you actually owe something to
They’ll make the situation personal, with very rude language and unbacked accusations
They’ll use hyperbole, with exaggerated claims written with capital letters and excessive exclamation marks
If they’re a customer, follow your established customer service workflow, whether that means preparing a reply yourself or passing the comment on to a dedicated CS or PR team.
If replying falls under your remit, decide whether to contact the customer privately via a direct message (better for more challenging scenarios where confidential details need to be exchanged) or out in the open with a public response (great for easier ‘general information’ questions, and shows your followers you’re genuinely interested in helping).
And even when you move to private messages, acknowledge the customer with a public reply — something as simple as ‘Sorry to see this! Let me get this sorted for you. I’ve sent a private message your way’ — so it doesn’t look like you’re ignoring them when others see the enquiry/complaint.
One final point about customer service via private messages: screenshots exist! Provide a shoddy experience privately and the customer may shout about it publicly. Provide an exceptional service and, if you’re lucky, they might do the same!
3. So they’re a troll — check the company policy
Most brands and agencies will already have a troll playbook written up. Refer to it when penning your reply. If there isn’t one on file, better late than never! Send around an email proposing a process for making one. Get everyone together for a meeting about it.
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4. Ignore, delete, and put your feet up
If the internet had its own ten commandments, “don’t feedeth the trolls” would be one of them. Trolls are rarely looking for any kind of resolution, so nothing you can say will appease them.
On Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, etc. delete and block them. On Twitter, hide their reply and block them. Wherever the trolls may be, don’t be afraid to silence them. Some marketers believe you should at least try to send a reasonable reply. We respectfully disagree.
But don’t delete their posts without also blocking them, because they’ll inevitably come back and write something even worse if they’re able to do so.
5. Can’t block ‘em outright? Block ’em with facts
Blocking isn’t always an option. Sometimes, trolls will attack a brand in ways you can’t directly control. Bad reviews on Google Maps, for example, aren’t always the easiest to shake off. If a troll leaves lots of one-star ratings from multiple accounts in a short space of time, there’s a good chance you’ll be able to get it removed through Google’s ‘Flag as inappropriate’ form.
What if they’re more strategic with their review-bombing, though? Reply to the Google Maps rating with an acknowledgement that you don’t have a customer on record with their name, and would like to know more information about their complaint. Include a contact email, as Google reviews are a one-response affair, not a continuous conversation.
It’s not the most satisfying solution, as their one-star rating can drive down your aggregate score and impact search rankings, but here’s a fun little slice of human psychology: most people read the worst reviews first, and can tell something isn’t authentic when a faceless user has left a star rating with no written review. Your straight-facts response will only confirm those suspicions.
This is also a good time to ensure you’re actively encouraging satisfied customers to leave five-star ratings!
You also might not be able to block trolls because they’re spreading rumours and misinformation to others, not directly to you, and blocking them could even be read as a confirmation of their statements. A ‘Streisand effect’ phenomenon. Responding with facts is usually a good course of action here. They might shut up. They might switch to more infantile slander. Either way, your job’s done.
6. Troll the trolls with humour
Under ‘Stay calm’, we mentioned ‘Wendy’s-esque wit’. Though their shtick isn’t as fresh and exciting as it once was — especially after it spawned countless imitators — fast food chain Wendy’s has become the de facto figurehead for brands throwing out the comms guidelines and being fearlessly savage. Their tweets now appear alongside Innocent’s smoothie bottles and Oatly’s Instagram captions in 90% of ‘what can we do differently?’ presentations.
Approach with caution, though — there’s a fine line between nailing a flawless ‘mic drop’ moment and coming across like a try-hard ‘quirky brand’. Loop in your colleagues to make sure your counter-troll clapbacks are quality or cringe.
7. Protect your community
The brand you represent might not even be the direct target of the trolls — they could be aiming for your customers. Having a public-facing community management policy on your client’s website which you can link to when things get heated in the comments will prevent trolls from claiming you’re cherry-picking people to remove/block, and will reward customers for their loyalty.
Defending your followers from attacks also encourages other fans to defend you in return, particularly when you’re supporting an ethical standard your client claims to uphold and not just safeguarding the brand’s image. That’s when you truly evolve from ‘social media manager’ to ‘community manager’.
And that’s how we recommend dealing with social media trolls on the brand accounts you manage! Again, remember that it all starts with breathing, drinking water, relaxing your jaw, rolling your shoulders, and staying calm.
Feel like you need some help taking on the nasties of the net? Contact us about managing your content and communities.
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Let’s discuss your business needs and how we can help.