Here are my brief thoughts on dealing with hostile or negative commenters on blogs and digital articles etc.

1. Focus on the issue

Negative comments and ‘digital hostility’ can quickly turn personal. For the most part commenters enjoy virtual anonymity and don’t feel the need to adhere to standard rules of social conduct. While that certainly reflects on them and their credibility, don’t get sucked into a nasty and personal back-and-forth that will ultimately dent your reputation. Focus on legitimate arguments that are wrapped within the comments and respond with facts and professionalism. If you can point out fallacies and come across as level-headed and informed in the process, you win extra points.

2. Engage/dismiss with humor

Sometimes the comments are so obviously (pick one!) biased, ridiculous, ignorant, wrong, outdated, vulgar, misinformed, stupid, vile et cetera, that either no response is needed–the rest of the community will feel the same as you–or a well-placed witticism by you that will put the ‘hostile’ in his place. Nothing is as truthful or carries the sting as that of a witty remark at the right place.

3. Respond quickly if a response is needed

By letting negative comments with substance sit without responding, you’re depriving yourself–and your personal brand–of an opportunity to set the record straight or get a key message across. If it’s warranted, don’t practice ostrich-politics and make your well-thought-out point known as quickly as possible. The end-result may be a win-win where misunderstandings about you/your brand are cleared up and a wider community benefits.

4. Be prudently aggressive about pointless hostility and flaming

Make your terms of conduct known and invite constructive criticism, while giving a clear heads-up that sheer hostility, profanity and vulgarity are a waste of time, add no value to the conversation and will find their way straight into the digital recycle bin without ever seeing daylight (pixilation?). Those who object to this are the ones you couldn’t care less to hear from anyway.

5. Invite others’ feedback

If negative comments about an issue you posted add up, you may put it out to a wider audience to respond to get a 360 view of sentiments, perspectives and arguments on the issue. It shows you are interested in real dialogue as opposed to simply pushing a biased point of view. The perceived inclusiveness of this approach, not to mention potential resulting insights, will gain you points from a much wider community.

6. Clarify when in doubt

When you feel negative comments may contain a legitimate concern or source of pain but can’t quite discern what exactly the commenter is referring to, ask questions back to clarify the issue. Use their exact words in quotes, i.e. “…you totally suck in communicating with your customers…” and ask, what experiences they’ve had specifically that makes them feel this way. Then you can respond to the commenter and the issue with some confidence.

7. Don’t sterilize your forum or comment section

It would be easy to go overboard with administrative functionality and simply delete or censor any negative commentary about you and your brand. Don’t. It will become real boring for the community that bothers to write in if all they’re seeing are comments that praise you and whatever you’re promoting. As long as it’s substantive, negative feedback has an important place and gives a needed other-perspective.

And finally, get a copy of William F. Buckley’s book ‘Cancel Your Own Goddam Subscription’ where over decades as editor of the National Review he answered hostile letters (as well as friendly ones) and ’stink-bombs’ from readers with a kind of wit and intellectual depth I haven’t seen since anywhere else.

On that note, his equally talented brother F. Reid Buckley wrote the foreword to my book, Executive Presence, which I treasure (the foreword that is).