They are called trolls. Or should we just call them a pain in our butt? At times they can really get nasty. What do we do about them and their hateful comments?

I have a friend on Twitter and on Facebook that I had the opportunity to meet face to face in Toronto; after we connected on social media.  I appreciate our friendship. We have kept in contact and both of us have shared comments from time to time. There’s only one problem; this person has trolls. And their trolls have found me.

And where there are trolls, there are nasty and mean spirited remarks. These comments might even make you angry. You might want to give them back as good as they have given you. Right?

All the advice I have read, and received from others, tells me first not to engage them at all. If you feed them by commenting back, it can make things worse. You may want to give them an ear full; but don’t waste your time or energy. If you involve yourself, expect to have them suck your energy from you.

But ignoring them does not always work. They may start inflaming your network with negative comments about you. One of the first things you should do is record their comments by using a screen capture program. Windows Vista and Windows 7 have a “Snipping Tool” that will do just fine. Store these files you create in a safe play. You may have to provide them to your Internet Provider or even to the police.

One tactic that I have discovered is using your community to respond to the trolls. This will happen only if you have created relationships with people in your community. They will come to your aid if they know what you are really like. This works like “Troll Spray”. It looks better on you when you have a supportive community that comes to your defense. But you must first build this community.

If they leave comments that are not view able or fit for human consumption, first record them and delete them. Try this tactic at first. Let them know about your posting policy. After that, you can usually block them and make your community aware of them. Unfortunately, many of these trolls have several accounts. You may need to block them all.

As a last thought, it’s never a good idea to get into a spitting match with them. Never lower yourself down to their level.

So let me sum my points up:

  1. Don’t feed the trolls. Maybe they will just go away.
  2. Build a community of friends that will come to your defense when needed.
  3. Record their posts if they become bad. You may need them for evidence.
  4. If you have to delete posts, you have to delete them. But record them first!!!
  5. At some point, you may want to talk to your Internet Provider to let them know what is going on. They have connections.
  6. Don’t get into a fight online. It never ends well.
  7. Make sure you have a commenting and posting policy on your site. Then you cannot be accused of censorship.
Remember that many of us have had to deal with trolls from time to time. You having a troll is not the end of the world. You will get through it. Just keep you head and stay calm. Don’t let them get to you.