Today I read a fantastic BBC report about NunTok – it’s a growing community on Tik Tok of people who belong to various religions and want to use Tik Tok to break stereotypical ideas about them There are dancing Nuns, a video making Rabbi, Shaolin monks and swift changing Vicars. They are a joy.
Do they receive negative comments online? All the time.
Do you really want to hurt me?
We all suffer from dodgy comments online and if your social page is really taking off, expect the bored and ill informed comments to begin showing up. It’s going to happen and it’s tiresome. Can we fix it? Not entirely, but I hope I can offer some ways to rid your page of fleas.
First of all protect your own interests online, this means keeping your content positive and your boundaries high. When you respond to people in a positive way then they have less of a window to make a nasty remark. Let’s call it the ‘Bouncy Puppy’ school of thought, make it cheerful and your pages are just not interesting to online pests.
What if it gets nasty?
Direct Trolling is easier to deal with – report and delete. However, there are some more insidious ways to derail someone’s business or day.
Have you heard of the Pimlico Plumber? He held such strong opinions about cycle lanes being built in London (watch how bouncy puppy I’m keeping this) that he hired a team to disrupt the social feeds of cycle groups, bike shops and campaigns up and down the land. It was bewildering and pointless but a few groups began to respond. Pimlico Plumber’s campaign was short lived once people recognised that he was simply agitating for responses. Any response at all, like an Energy Vampire.
No response is a great way to halt the progress of Social page pests. Don’t respond immediately, perhaps wait a day to see how it all plays out. Genuine folk don’t pester you for a response, watch and see how this person interacts with others. You might choose to respond, they can’t demand that you reply.
Pests can be deleted and blocked. A clear written policy pinned to the top of your social page will go a long way to help you stay feeling in charge of what happens.
It’s not always as bad as it seems
Being part of a community – which is what a good business will do on Social – will invite people to share their opinions. Will you always like what they say? Of course not!
Picky comments are irritating, especially when it’s about a product or service you’ve worked really hard on. What’s helpful here is to take a deep breath and when you feel calm, ask the poster to tell you a little more about their concerns. This can be really productive for your business and good to think through your clients’ concerns. Or if Picky Knickers is just there to ruin your day : block, block, block.
How I can help
Community Managers, like me, take on board the responsibilities of moderating comments on your Social feeds. We can write policies or audit your process and suggest better ways of responding to online negativity.
What about those Nuns on Tik Tok? They revealed that they receive hateful comments online everyday. Were they bothered? Not a bit of it! They say they pray extra, extra hard for those folk. Didn’t say exactly what they prayed for though.
I hope you found this useful. If you’d like to discuss more ways to take control of your social, please just drop me a line.
