Trolls vs Legit Comments

Remember these little guys? These cute, little, weird looking things? Or maybe you remember the nursery rhyme of the Three Billy Goats Gruff. Or maybe you’re too young for that or spend more time online and the first thing that comes to mind are those annoying people who hop into a conversation and say something negative, or something that ruins your day.

Yesterday I had the privilege to be able to go to a panel discussion for Social Media Week Toronto that included the lovely and Irresistible, Liz Strauss; the always listening Sensei Sam Fiorella; and the Matt Damon poster child, setting things on Wildfire, Sean Moffitt. They were great, they debated amongst themselves and took some great questions for the audience. There was one question in particular that caught my attention, and of course, it was about trolls.

The panelists said the typical, “don’t feed the trolls” speech, but then went a little deeper talking about how trolls are only out to hurt your brand, while other customers are giving you constructive criticism and there are some nuggets of information that you can take with you out of those interactions to help you improve. That is a pretty huge distinction…one that people are constantly forgetting.

Lately, on Twitter I have seen many people, brands, and organizations talk about not feeding the trolls. “Oh, that was a troll comment, don’t listen to it,” or “Looks like the trolls are out again!” are some frequent comments I see… and I hate to say it, but many people aren’t really listening.

Here’s the thing, I can look at any negative comment that doesn’t agree with me personally or with my brand and simply write it off as a troll comment. Or, I can read that comment, take a second to ponder it and then decide. If we simply write off any negative comment as a “troll” comment we’re not listening to that person. We’re not giving ourselves a chance to improve either our brands or the relationships around us. If the comment is deliberately out to hurt your brand and they aren’t actually having a problem or is that dude who pokes his head into a classroom, yells, “Your mother” and then jets away, then sure….don’t pay any attention to them (Or you can do what Liz does and just say Thank You.). But if that comment has any concerns, someone that is hurt, someone that’s needs acknowledgement, someone that has something of value to add (even if only a little) and you don’t listen to that comment and brush it off…you’re missing a valuable opportunity to learn, create strong passionate relationships and inform/educate people.

So why am I talking about this? Because I get to see these interactions transform everyday. Whether I’m sitting down with clients doing a mediation or online chatting to folks. The same rules apply, quite often in the mediation room people make troll remarks as well, and sometimes we just aren’t listening to those remarks to know that they aren’t troll comments.

So how do we decipher if these comments are from trolls or are legitimate comments? Here are some questions you can ask yourself:
1. Is this a blatant attack on my brand?
2. Is there any substance in their complaint/comment?
3. Are they complaining for the sake of complaining or are they trying to rectify a situation?
4. Is there any legitimacy to their comment?
5. Are they looking for a response?
6. What do you think their intent for posting this is?
7.

What questions would you add to this?