5 Tips on How to Respond to Rude Comments

It’s going to happen. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but haters are going to hate, and they will openly do it in your comments section with absolutely no shame at all. So how do we handle the situation? Even more so if we’re handling someone else’s social media pages, are there “safe zones” on how to respond to rude comments? The more our business, brand, blog, vlog, online courses, or whatever continues to grow, the more some people are going to determine it their life’s purpose to destroy it. 

Now, this intro is not meant to scare you away from growth. Heck, if you’ve already started attracting haters, then congratulations! That means that they already see something of worth in you but do not understand how to express themselves in a more…civilized manner. Jealousy can bring out some ugly actions, but that doesn’t mean that we have to be defeated by them nor do we have to stoop to their level! These tips are to provide us a shield against their fiery arrows of envy! The important thing to remember is that we have more to lose than the haters do, so our interactions have to be strategic. Here’s a battle plan on how to respond to rude comments! 

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1. Simply thank them for the engagement.

Kindness hurts the most hateful! There are many out there who either just want to start a fight or just want to feel like a victim (or both), and they will try to ignite that confrontation with a useless hateful comment. Keep in mind that unlike Twitter, many social media accounts are still equipped with an edit button, so if they go in and edit their comment from “You suck at life” to “You suck at being a bad person” and people see (and possibly screenshot) your bitter retort, can you see how this interaction could be misread? Their friends will most likely ignore that tiny “edited” notification, verbally attack you, and disregard any defensive argument.

By simply saying, “Thank you for interacting with the post” or “Thank you for sharing your opinion” or “Thank you for being a part of the community,” we greatly decrease the chances of manipulated communication if we choose to respond to that rude comment. Plus, it shows our audience that we’re not easily triggered by rudeness.

2. Ask them to expand more on their opinions.

Many haters are actively seeking out confrontations, but what happens when the confrontation is a nice one? If someone comments, “I hate your videos! They’re stupid!” and you respond, “Thanks for the feedback. Will you please explain further in what ways the videos have been deemed stupid in your opinion?” the ball is now in their field. Even if they edit their comment (which will show a tiny notification that they did), your fans will still be curious about the wording of your inquiry. The hater can either provide a legit valuable (albeit still rude) critique that they were not anticipating (lighting, audio, etc.) or they can simply respond rudely again with no value to their answer other than to share their dislike of the material.  

Here, we can play two games: either we can again inquire about their new rude comment with the sweetest of curiosity that we can muster, or we can go back to tip one and simply thank them for their opinions. Many times, the unexpected confrontation of taking interest in their negative opinions will diffuse continuous harassment since chances are, they’ll see how we’re prepared to respond to any more rude comments in the same manner. See this method like the little kid who likes to ask “why” a hundred times!

3. Use witty quotes or a comedic GIF/meme as your response.

I laugh almost every time I see this method used flawlessly! Especially with GIFs, the visuals just make the interactions perfect (it’s probably why I’m so addicted to Twitter)! Use this tip with lots of caution. It’s a matter of using wit over anger. 

Let’s say a full-on argument broke out in one of our threads and they kept tagging us in the argument to agree with a specific side. We could try to offer a peace treaty, though the more neutral our opinions are, the more likely we’ll get attacked by both sides in the matter (ex. anything political)…or…we could post a response of Plankton bidding farewell to everyone. 

Just know that it is near impossible to post something online without offending someone in this world. Make do with what you can and keep it moving. If we try to satisfy everyone, we’ll end up satisfying no one.

4. Agree with them.

I learned this trick from Dale Carnegie’s book, How to Win Friends and Influence People. The book was published back in 1936, and I’m still flabbergasted at how little we have changed over the decades when it comes to human interactions.

How often have you ever argued with someone who responded with, “You’re so right.” Like, how do we argue with someone that agrees with our point-of-view? That really defeats the purpose of arguing in the first place. If someone posts, “This video is horrible,” and we respond with, “You’re so right. The video is a little grainy, the lighting is a bit too bright, and the audio could have been better,” what else is there to respond back with? No hater wants to agree with the person they’re trying to hate on, so it’s like we broke the matrix within the hater’s mind! And if they do attempt to respond back? Try alternating this tip with tip #2!

5. Just don’t bother. Ignore the troll and delete the comment.

Some hatefulness just isn’t worth the time even if it is a possible boost to your engagement. Some haters just copy and paste rude comments onto whatever post they can find because they’re bored. It has nothing to do with who we are, and everything to do with them just spreading fire wherever possible. See these more like scam emails or bot accounts: just delete and move on. If you do live streams, it’s best to have a moderator on standby to block the user if need be.

Their only purpose is to cause a riot wherever possible, and they don’t care who gets hurt in the process. It doesn’t matter what we inquire about or how many times we say, “thank you.” They don’t really care who we are nor is it important if we respond or even how to respond to the rude comments at this point. They’ll get a notification that someone took the bait, then they’ll just become more insistent than mosquitos in the middle of a hot summer swarm. Just delete, block if needed, and move on.

Now let’s hear from you!

Have you had to respond to rude comments or handle hateful people online (or more boldly in real life)? What are some methods that you have used to prevent the situation from escalating? Have you ever snapped back on a cyber-bully? How did that go and how did you feel if and when it was ever resolved? Please share your stories in the comment section below! 

These tips are a lot easier to recommend than to actually do, but no single bad comment is worth risking all of your accomplishments and sanity over. You’ve worked hard to get to where you are today. The haters are proof that you’ve made significant progress. Otherwise, they wouldn’t even bother targeting you. Keep your head high, your passion in full view, and remember to live your life just one story at a time! 

Take care, 

Kyndall Bennett from Kyrabe Stories

P.S. For other books and services to help you along your journey towards your personal goals, check out our Books Recommendations page or our Service and Tech Recommendations page!

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