When operating on any social media platform, you will inevitably encounter negativity. Over this blog, I will share my personal experiences in dealing with it, how to identify it, and what the best response you can have towards it is in various scenarios.
What is negativity on social media?[]
To start, let's take a look at what constitutes negativity on social media. With any IP, there will be people who love it, and people who hate it. Where one fan will celebrate it, another will, for lack of a better word, hate on it. While anger and hate can get significant engagement, this is considered bad engagement.
What is baiting, and how do you respond to it?[]
When someone posts a negative opinion intended to provoke a response from someone, that is called baiting. For example, let's say I post an Obi-Wan Kenobi appreciation post, and someone comments that Obi-Wan sucks and isn't very strong. There is a good chance they hope to get either you or someone else to engage that message, to draw someone into an argument or debate. When this occurs, the best thing you can do is not engage. While a bit of friendly banter is fine when both parties are in on it (such as when Brandon heckles me the Wookieepedia Twitter account), generally you want to avoid this. If you engage with every negative comment, you can come across as argumentative and combative, and these are a poor look for a wiki which is meant to be a neutral repository of information.
What do you do if someone is constantly trolling your posts?[]
You will encounter people who seem to just comment negative things on your posts, for the sake of doing so. If this is a repeat issue and seems to be in bad faith, the best thing you can do is just block the account. As I mentioned in my previous blog post, your goal is to foster a positive, welcoming environment for your audience. Likewise, if you see someone constantly harassing others, using hate speech and/or slurs, or acting hostile towards others it's best to just ban them. Don't give them the attention they want.
Oh no, a controversy happened on your wiki, and social media picked up on it[]
If this happens, don't fear. While I hope you never go through this, here are a few things to keep in mind if it does. Let's say one of your admins was banned, and a large Youtuber picked up on it and decided to use the drama around it for content. What they are posting is biased, and doesn't represent what happened, but people are already tweeting about it. What do you do?
- Stay calm. Remember, you are a neutral source of information. Getting angry with them will only make it worse.
- Be neutral with what you tell people. When explaining what actually happened, be clear, concise, and to the point. For example, "x user was banned for violating site policy. While we regret this happened, no single user is above the rules." The message is clear, the information is direct, and it avoids any bias or emotion.
- Avoid responding to every single comment. While you may have good intentions doing this, it's best to keep it to a post on your social, and periodic messages on larger threads discussing what happened. The exception to this is if someone is asking calmly for more information, in which case refer to point 2.
- Take breaks, hydrate, and click away from it. Incidents like this can wear you down quickly, especially when it feels like everyone is criticizing your wiki. If you feel yourself getting stressed, angry or upset, take a break. The wiki will still be there when you get back, and we're all supposed to be having fun! Self care is important.
When should you turn off commenting?[]
Generally, I try to avoid turning off commenting on a social media post, because I want people to feel like we are approachable. The exception to this is when it's clear that a post is only attracting negative comments and hate. While you can try to moderate it, sometimes it's easier to just shut it down, and hope the next post turns out better.
Someone on social media is demanding you unblock them, or otherwise telling you what to do.[]
If someone demands something of you on social media, remember. You are not obligated to do it. If someone is asking to be unblocked, ask them to contact you on Community Central, where it can be discussed away from the hustle and bustle of social media in a neutral forum. If someone comes in demanding you change something on the wiki, try to use this to highlight that everyone can edit, and everyone is welcome to join. Many times people have messaged me asking for a change, and were surprised to discover that they too could join the site. While this will not work every time, it is a good faith effort to invite someone in, and that never hurts.
The worst has happened, someone tried doxxing a user.[]
If this happens, breathe and follow these steps.
- Report the comment and either hide or delete it so others don't see it.
- Remind users on your site to be careful with what information about themselves they share publically.
- When this occurs, I also use it as an opportunity to put out a message or post stating that harassment is not okay, a message that in the past has strongly resonated with our community. A strong message that hate and harassment have no place in your community will have an impact.
Maximizing Your Community Mentor Knowledge