Prevent Negativity from Dictating Responses

The internet is now the number one source for debating. But debating implies a productive dialogue where both parties are offering points and counterpoints to come to a mutual understanding of ideal conclusions or solutions. More often than not, internet debating is more akin to arguing and bickering to reinforce a pre-established bias. Even benign topics can quickly devolve into negative emotional arguments. Digital marketers need to be keenly aware of this dynamic to make sure that their business communications don’t spiral into a void of conflict.

When thinking about negativity online, many people’s first thought is cyberbullying.  While instances of cyberbullying have been particularly malicious, rampant attacks aren’t something that only affects children.  Online forums and social media are littered with adults launching unfounded and disrespectful assaults at one another.   

So what can digital marketers do to keep this strife away from their online channels?

Like most problems, the first step in counteracting online disputes is understanding the phenomena. Online interaction has been studied by psychologists and most people succumb, to some extent, to online disinhibition effect. I’m certainly not qualified to explain all the complexities of this dynamic but it tends to boil down to two factors, anonymity and invisibility.  Put another way, people behave badly online because they feel they are anonymous and others online are abstract “users” rather than actual people.

For digital marketers, this means that we are engaging with a group of people who have justified a relaxed moral or social code of conduct when interacting with us or others on our online channels.  Simply acknowledging this fact will grant an element of patience and reasonableness when online interactions are hostile.

After acknowledging that some contentious interaction is inevitable digital marketers can take two steps to prevent it:

Avoid the Three Inflammatory Topics: Religion, Politics, and Sports. 

For most trainers, consultants, and professional coaches, it’s not difficult to avoid these topics.  However, sometimes an analogy or story about one of these things is leveraged in an article or resource.  Keeping those references general, like a sports analogy, is typically ok.  As soon as you get into a specific opinion on any of these things, you invite online conflict.

Don’t Escalate Disagreements

It takes two to argue.  Sometimes negative comments are enraging or hurtful and it can be difficult to react calmly.  If you find your anger rising and want to “set the record straight” online, it’s best to step away for a while and then craft a response.  If a comment is particularly inflammatory, it might be best not to respond at all as it might not warrant the effort. Remember, just like clicking send on your email, once your response is online, it’s there for all to see.  Even if you remove a response, it doesn’t mean that others haven’t already duplicated or reacted to it. Make sure that your response to any negativity is coolly handling a question or accusation, not getting your emotional needs met.

Website and social media comments can devolve into destructive conflicts rather easily.  Remain aware of the dynamic and always look to prevent or diffuse such negativity as quickly and calmly as you can.