So what do you do when the things you post get a negative reaction?
One thing that’s important to keep in mind is that people who disagree with you are not necessarily your enemies. Some of them may be. But others may just be people who see things differently than you do. Or they may just be people who like to argue, or don’t understand or like your post, or are having a bad day. Or it could be all of those things, or something else entirely.
Treat the people who react negatively as if they might be any of those things, and always try to respond in a way that will encourage them to listen and respond.
If someone posts something that isn’t yours and it gets a negative reaction, it’s important to recognize that the person whose post is getting the reaction has to deal with it. Just because you commented on their post doesn’t mean they’re not the one who is going to have to deal with whatever fallout there is.
Fedora-science mailing list Web Archives | Powered by Mailman | View archives for 2011 09
A while back, I wrote a post on how to handle negative reactions to things you’ve posted on social media. The central idea was that it’s not the reactions themselves that matter, but what you do in response.
In the time since I wrote it, I’ve had my own experiences with negative reactions that have made me think about what I did, and whether it worked. So here are some additional thoughts on the subject.
Somewhere on the Internet, I saw a dog-art meme. I don’t remember where it was, and that’s not important. It could have been anywhere; you can find them all over Facebook.
The dog-art memes have a pretty standard format. The artist draws the head of one breed of dog onto the body of another breed — for example, a chihuahua head onto a great dane body. Or a corgi face on an elephant body. The resulting creature is nearly always ridiculous looking, because of the mismatch between the heads and bodies. The caption reads “dog/dachshund” or “dog/schnauzer” or whatever, and includes the name of the artist, often with some reference to their web site or Kickstarter project or some other way they want to promote themselves.
My friends and I found these dog-art memes funny (or at least I thought so), but we noticed something interesting about them: Some of our friends didn’t seem to think they were funny at all. In fact, they seemed to find them offensive. So we started thinking about why that might be, and what it had to do with one of my favorite topics: what happens when people get upset about things posted on
Last fall, I posted my first viral piece of art on Facebook. It was a picture of my dog, and I’d drawn some “different” eyebrows and mustache on him. Within a day it had been shared over 14,000 times.
I was thrilled by the response. Dog lovers around the world had liked it, and it had made them smile.
But then something surprising happened. A few days later, a couple people messaged me that they were upset by the post. I took down the picture immediately, but the damage had already been done – other people started messaging me that they were upset about the picture as well.
Taken aback and somewhat hurt, I did what I thought was the responsible thing: I took down all similar pictures of dogs with added eyebrows or mustaches… because who wants to make their friends sad?
That was a mistake – an important one – and here’s why…
So, now we know that it’s okay to express our feelings on social media. We know that it’s okay to express negative feelings, too.
The next time you feel like posting a negative feeling, consider these points: 1. You’re human. 2. The people who follow you are human. 3. You should be the same person online as you would be in person. 4. The people you follow should be the same online as they would be in person.
Treat others with respect and you will get respect back. Keep all of this in mind and social media will be a happier experience for all of us!
“Be yourself. Don’t try to act cool or get validation from others. I was always really shy growing up and I still am to a certain extent. It’s hard for me to put myself out there, especially in a way that is vulnerable and honest. But if you are genuine and open, people are drawn to that.”
“I think the key takeaway is just don’t be scared to share your work and don’t be scared of criticism. I used to get so nervous about sharing things with people because I worried about their opinions on it. But then I realized that everyone else is just as insecure about their work as I am, so it doesn’t matter what they think!”
“Even though it can hurt sometimes and even though you’ll sometimes regret putting something out there, if you care about your work and are proud of it, you should share it with the world.”
“And if it’s crap, well then at least you know now and can move onto the next thing without beating yourself up over it.”
In the wake of the controversy surrounding Milo Yiannopoulos’ appearance on Real Time with Bill Maher, actress and comedian Leslie Jones briefly quit Twitter after being harassed by an army of Yiannopoulos’ followers. Yiannopoulos, a technology editor at Breitbart and well-known for his controversial commentary on college campuses, is infamous for his polarizing rhetoric.
Trolling has become an increasingly common practice online for many different reasons. Twitter can be a platform for individuals to anonymously spew their vitriol and hate speech in hopes of upsetting or even silencing their target. Other times, trolling may just be a way to get a rise out of someone.
Think Before You Tweet
So, how do you respond to someone who is trolling you? If you’re not sure whether it’s actually an instance of trolling or just someone who has a difference of opinion, always err on the side of caution and assume it’s a troll. That said, if you think it might be an instance of someone genuinely wanting to debate you, feel free to engage in that conversation.
The first thing you’ll want to do when deciding how to respond is take a deep breath and think before you tweet back or post something publicly about your troll. “It’s important not to react right away,” says Dr. Delia Rickard
