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How to deal with online negativity

Being well-prepared to deal with online negativity will help you respond calmly and not let things escalate.

If you use Twit­ter, Insta­gram, Face­book, blogs or YouTube you may see neg­a­tive con­tent and con­ver­sa­tions. For exam­ple, users post­ing inac­cu­rate, inflam­ma­to­ry and insult­ing content.

How to deal with online abuse

Ignore

The best way to deal with online abuse is to ignore it. The vast majority of abuse is from individuals seeking attention, publicity or reactions. By ignoring it, you are denying the attention being sought. If you do engage with the content and respond and it gets worse then do not continue the online interaction.

Correct

If someone is spreading rumours or incorrect information about your company, research or farm, one technique is to highlight the facts whilst not directly responding to the abuse. For example, share a fact from your farm practice or your research.

Report

You can report any aggressive or upsetting behaviour to the social media platform. Block users so they cannot view or post on your social media account.

Delete

If you allow comments on your blog or your YouTube channel, you can delete or remove any inappropriate comments.

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