How To Deal With Social Media Haters Lurking In Your Phone.
There are haters, and there are haters. Social media has brought millions of people together through the use of readily available platforms, and it has brought out the best and dark side of humanity. The question is — How do we deal with the dark side when we are caught in it?
Social media is here to stay. Early adopters and technology laggards in 2021 all know about FaceBook, Instagram, Linkedin, Twitter, and many others. Many of us have become players in this game.
We post, comment, like, heart on content daily as if it brings us millions and millions of dollars.
In fact, when done correctly, it can. Social media influencers on Instagram and Facebook is proof. The star effect that Product companies seek to boost their sales revenue goes beyond modern-day movie stars.
Many of us resonate with the Plain Janes, Joe Averages more than Tom Cruise when it comes to disinfectants.
And that’s good. It shows that there are opportunities to be pursued within social media itself.
I think that’s why we spend time engaging and creating content of value. It might not be the reason. It could be one of them.
As our follower population grows, the magnitude of our headache grows.
Have you heard of social media trolls?
Yup, they are the big, bad, maybe fat bullies online that derive their pleasure from trolling you via your contents.
The best (worse) part? They are invisible.
What can we do with them?
In a nutshell, very little. We cannot see them, to begin with. Fighting back is tough, and when we do so, we become caught up in a shouting match.
What can we do with the situation?
This is my proposition. Instead of asking what we can do with them, we should focus on what we can do to ourselves.
My perspectives are articulated below.
For one, we must not doubt our contents. Many of us put in our heart and soul into creating content that we believe in.
Take, for instance, video content.
They aren’t easy to create, am I right?
It takes time, effort, and energy. Seeking the best background for shoots adds to the gross production time.
So, have faith in what we do.
Next, look at the kind of comments that they post. I guarantee you, it stings. Oh, and it stinks. It can be either-or, it can be both. The choice is yours.
My point is — It is worthy of our attention and response? For this purpose, I stick to the following rule of thumb.
If it is one comment, and it stays as one comment — I leave it alone. If I am in a good mood, I will respond with a Thank You. Otherwise, that’s that.
If that one throttling comment gains traction by having comments stacked one after another — I will write an umbrella response.
This response will be along the lines of Thank You for the string of comments. This post is originally written with the intent of …
My focus will be explaining the intent of my writing. In essence, I respond to the core concern and not the hate vibes that are present.
After all, I reserve the right to create the content I believe in. I do not create contents that are driven by the whim and fancy of others.
Think of that. It is too tiring to be productive in that fashion.
Maybe, and maybe, if I have the time (I doubt), I might check out his / her profile. I did that once to check out a prolific hater leaving funny comments on my Linkedin posts.
I realized that she doesn’t create any content. All she does is to leave hate comments on content created by others.
I decided to leave her alone and silently wish her the best of luck. While I do not appreciate her shitting on my post, it is not the best use of my time to reciprocate.
Man, she doesn’t even have content for me to shit back!
After a while, I figured out one thing. The best thing she did was not the message content. It was that she commented. And when she does that, my content got circulated further.
And then I realized that it could be a good thing. I was happy again.
In Conclusion.
It stings and stinks when our work is being shitted upon. I get that. It hurts.
I reconcile that with our willingness to play the social media game. All things come in a package of good and bad. It’s like a coin with heads and tails.
The important question we have to ask ourselves is what we can do and what we cannot.
And never forget the reason we play the social media game in the first place.
Haters are distractors. Our intent is the guiding star.
Bury them when we have the time. Ignore them most of the time.
Let Them Hate. Focus On Creating Value!
Aldric
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About the Author:
As a content contributor, I write my observations from daily life and my business exposure.
Because our life experience is the bedrock of our unique perspectives.
As a Consultant by training, I believe in making the complex simple.
Because simplicity adds value.
And with clarity — We grow.
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