When you first launch your blog, everyone will love it, but as time goes on and you become more popular, it is likely that you will attract a hater or two that has nothing better to do than bring you down. Some bloggers experience more trolls than others, and the longer you have been online, the more likely you will be to run into online bullies who want nothing other than for you to quit. I have been advocating online for seven years and although my new blog has not had any trolls because not a lot of people have discovered it yet, but I definitely had some on my previous blog. When I encountered my first troll, I felt like garbage because no one prepares you for people telling you off for no reason, but as I become more experienced, I developed a thick skin like all creators do and it no longer affects me. If you put a lot of content out online, it is impossible to completely eliminate trolls because everyone is on the Internet and people tend to be meaner online than they would ever be in real life. You can still have fun blogging even if sometimes people aren’t very nice. What can you do about Internet trolls? In this post, I am going to talk about how I handle Internet trolls.
Do not take it personally– When someone leaves a nasty comment on your blog, it is so easy to get offended and take that comment personally because we want everyone to love our blog, but it’s so important not to. If a family member or friend were unnecessarily leaving rude comments on my blog, I would be offended because I know them personally and expect them to be supportive. If a complete stranger left a nasty comment and showed no shame in letting me know that they thought my content was horrible, I would be over it in an hour. My blog is not going to be everyone’s cup of tea, and that is okay because it’s impossible to please everyone, and there will always be something that someone doesn’t like. It hurts when people leave rude comments on a blog post you worked very hard on, but I can’t stress enough how important it is to let it go and not take it personally, because most people are being mean just because they can and don’t mean what they say. Trolls are nothing other than another person sitting at a computer screen, and you can’t take everything personally, because if you won’t last long as a blogger if you do.
Create a comment policy- I have a comment clear comment policy displayed on my blog to let readers know what types of comments are acceptable and which ones will get deleted. I think policies are important things for bloggers to have because more people will try to spam you when you don’t have clear rules. A comment policy does not completely prevent trolls from trying to leave harmful comments, because you can’t completely get rid of every troll on the Internet, but you can have clear policies so there is no confusion when your comment is not approved. Most people want to make their blog a positive space that is free of judgment, and it can be difficult to do that when you let people do whatever they want and don’t have boundaries. Trolls will still try to spam your blog and there is nothing you can do about that but bloggers who have clear rules tend to get spammed a little less than those who don’t have policies.
Set your comments up for moderation-I have more time to blog than people who have full-time jobs, but I don’t know a single blogger who sits and stares at their blog at all hours of the day because even if you had all the time in the world, no one wants to sit and stare at their blog 24/7. I have my comment section set up for moderation which means your comment will not be visible to anyone except me until I manually approve it and make it public to everyone. You can’t control what other people comment, but you can control what types of comments are made public by setting your comment section up for moderation, and you have a right to because it is your blog. I think that all bloggers who worry about trolls should have their comment section set up for moderation because you don’t have to worry about harmful comments being automatically shared, and you can walk away from your blog. I have my blog’s comment section set up for moderation because I have a life outside of my blog and never want to worry about trolls when I am on vacation.
Make your blog private– I have a public blog that anyone can access because I want to teach as many people as possible about my disability as I can to help break disability stigma. Blogging publicly is a choice I made, but you don’t need to blog publicly if you aren’t comfortable with sharing your thoughts with complete strangers, and blogging privately is always an option. You can always set your blog to private, and make it so the only people that can read your posts are those who have sent you a request and been approved. Private blogs do not reach as public ones and is not for anyone who wants to make money, but can be an option for people who only want to write to people they know.
Do not react– When someone leaves a rude comment on your blog, a lot of the time, people want to be rude back, but that is the opposite of what you should do. It can sometimes be tempting to respond back and give trolls a piece of your mind, but you are doing exactly what you want them to do the moment you respond. Trolls want a reaction, and if you don’t give it to them most times, they will stop bothering you and move on to someone who will show anger. If you want to make a troll mad, the best thing you can do is ignore them, because trolls are only going to bother people who cause drama, and if you give them no reaction, you aren’t very fun to mess with.
Block them– If someone is repeatedly being rude to me for no reason, I block them because sometimes I don’t have the energy to deal with every hater. There is nothing wrong with blocking toxic people, and is one of the benefits of being a content creator because you don’t have to deal with rude people if you don’t want to.
Blogging is not for everyone, and it’s not for anyone who only wants to hear positive things about their blog all the time, because not everyone is going to say kind things. When you encounter your first troll, it’s going to be hard, and you might take it personally at first, but as you become a more confident blogger, it will bother you less and less. You can’t stop people from leaving negative comments, but it’s important to remember that even though someone says something unkind, it doesn’t mean they are right, and most times, they are not. Never let Internet trolls ruin your love for blogging because most of the time, people say things that are completely ridiculous, and don’t actually mean what they say. It is impossible to control every troll on the Internet because once you block one person, it will be someone else, but you can control how you react to harmful comments. How do you handle Internet trolls? If you liked this post, please leave a comment below and share it with your friends.
Subscribe And Never Miss A Post
My Rockin Disabled Life 