From the Weeding Gnome: Don’t Feed the Trolls

Angela Treadwell-Palmer

Ever been attacked on the Internet? Feel it was unwarranted? Let's talk about reputation management for small businesses and their social media mavens. I love social media and the immediate power it has to offer garden centers, but I've got a social media hangover. Do this. Do that. Don't do this, and by golly, never do that.

It's hard to know who to follow and just how you should behave in this new, uncharted world of instant access to relationship building.

By all means, build those relationships, but be careful!

I've been running into trolls … Not troll beads or troll dolls—although I am frightened of those, and you do often see them in garden centers.
 

I'm talking about internet trolls. A troll is someone who posts inflammatory and often extraneous posts or comments in an online community with the primary intent of eliciting an emotional response and otherwise disrupting useful online discussions.

A troll is someone who follows you or your company on social media sites, poised to attack with disagreement. They're pot stirrers, and they want to fight. They nay-say everything and can be downright nasty if provoked.

To acknowledge them is to feed them. Please don't feed them.

Trolls wait for tiniest slip-up, then they pounce, attacking you and your company. They'll work hard to damage your reputation. Trolls "troll" Internet discussion boards and more modern forms of conversation like Twitter.

Their intent is to prove you wrong because they don't like something you've said. Trolls will repost comments from you and anyone else in your company on the Internet in a smear campaign to prove their point.

If fed, trolls may launch an attack, mentioning your name or your company's name in posts with links back to your site because they feel your company (or you) has a name big enough to be recognized. Then they'll proceed on a tirade to try and ruin you.

Crazy, I know!

If you choose to defend yourself, be careful; it will only make things worse and it may prompt a fervent attack.

I've been attacked. I've learned it's best to ignore them. Try not to defend yourself. That's really hard for me because I love a good fight. Heck, I'm married to a lawyer; it's fun to argue—and even more fun to win.
 

Troll hunting? Now, that would make for really good sport, wouldn't it? When a social media jerk unfairly indicts your company (or you personally), it's tempting to crush them. We're wired to defend ourselves by any means necessary.

If attacked, take a moment and decide if the angst is necessary. Feel the fire turning your cheeks red and raising your blood pressure, and force yourself to take the high road.

Or, better yet, kill the troll with kindness and thank him for initiating what should become a productive dialog. There's not much comeback if his or her rant is met with the comment, "Thank you for the post. We appreciate your concern."

Social Media is a great tool, but it can be used against you, so be vigilant and watch what people are saying on your pages. Remember, Google may index the fight.

The best advice I can give is DO NOT respond.

Respond only if you feel it is a legitimate complaint from a customer or follower. You will know very soon if it's a troll. At that point, I say, "Ignore them." You don't want potential customers finding you on the search engines via a nasty or heated conversation you once had with a troll.

Feed birds, not trolls. Peace, love and happy weeding!

 

Angela Treadwell-Palmer owns Plants Nouveau, a company on the cutting edge of plant introductions. Learn more about the company and sign up for Treadwell-Palmer's edgy "Weeding Gnome" e-newsletter at www.plantsnouveau.com.