General Article How to handle online and social media 'trolls'

Topic Selected: Life Online
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Whilst we know that social media is an essential part of PR, one disadvantage is that you can’t control what negative feedback you might receive. The common name for those who post unnecessarily negative comments on social media are ‘trolls’. How you pre-empt and handle trolls should definitely be something you take into consideration when planning out your social media strategy for a campaign. Here are a few things to think about:

Try to avoid trolls from the onset

Making out that your brand is amazing and assuming everyone else will think the same can be a tough lesson to learn. This was highlighted with the Waitrose Twitter campaign ‘Finish the sentence: I shop at Waitrose because…… #waitrosereasons’. Waitrose received immense backlash for this (including a few troll comments in the mix!); so remember to be as genuine as possible and not assume anything.

Take yourself through the footsteps of potential trolls

Think about what your comeback might be to your campaign if you wer...

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