How do you handle negative comments on YouTube or any other platform?

[Rabbitearsblog]

So, whenever you get comments on Youtube, Twitter, Facebook or any other platform, how do you handle the negative comments?  Do you just ignore them?  Do you post them on Twitter and mock it? Or do you do something else?

[MetalSkulkBane]

Umm, just ignore? Their opinions, their choice.

If he's being a real jerk you might wanna block or report or whatever. But sometimes it's not worth it.

If he's constructive or vague enough, I sometimes talk to them. I like trying to figure out why people think differently than me. Always respectfully, often not defending myself, just asking questions. You know, giving a dude enough rope to hang himself. "I'm a bit confused. You claim I did X, but I really don't see this. Can you elaborate?" Granted I regretted this once or twice, but as long as I keep emotional distance it's fine.

I mean, it's sorta context-dependent.

[Rabbitearsblog]

17 minutes ago, MetalSkulkBane said:

Umm, just ignore? Their opinions, their choice.

If he's being a real jerk you might wanna block or report or whatever. But sometimes it's not worth it.

If he's constructive or vague enough, I sometimes talk to them. I like trying to figure out why people think differently than me. Always respectfully, often not defending myself, just asking questions. You know, giving a dude enough rope to hang himself. "I'm a bit confused. You claim I did X, but I really don't see this. Can you elaborate?" Granted I regretted this once or twice, but as long as I keep emotional distance it's fine.

I mean, it's sorta context-dependent.

I honestly do the same thing.  If a person is being too nasty, I just straight up ignore them.  It's not worth my time and health to worry about what that person said to me when I got other things to do.  However, if the person disagrees with me, but they say it in a more respectful tone, then I'm willing to talk to them.

[Solister]

I've gotta be honest and say I really take to a personal side. I know I shouldn't, but I can't really control. Sometimes I take 10+ minutes to digest a bad take on my opinion before I cool down and actually go defend myself.

But I think @MetalSkulkBane really nailed it.

If the person offers constructive feedback, take the most advantage of it, if he's just being a troll, just ignore it.

Even when he's being too vague, sometimes it's worth to intricate the person. If he says "this is shit" you can always go "How so? I think it's worth because of this and that".

Still, like what Metal said, depends on the context and most times I believe it's not worth, but you never know the outcome.

[Rabbitearsblog]

21 minutes ago, Solister said:

I've gotta be honest and say I really take to a personal side. I know I shouldn't, but I can't really control. Sometimes I take 10+ minutes to digest a bad take on my opinion before I cool down and actually go defend myself.

But I think @MetalSkulkBane really nailed it.

If the person offers constructive feedback, take the most advantage of it, if he's just being a troll, just ignore it.

Even when he's being too vague, sometimes it's worth to intricate the person. If he says "this is shit" you can always go "How so? I think it's worth because of this and that".

Still, like what Metal said, depends on the context and most times I believe it's not worth, but you never know the outcome.

I also agree with the constructive criticisms.  I remembered that in my earlier YouTube videos before 2020, I had gotten quite a bit of constructive criticisms on my videos like how my thumbnails were hard to read, or how my camera was bad or how I constantly stuttered in my videos.  So, when I started listening to these criticisms and started improving my channel, my channel started growing pretty quickly and it was thanks to those constructive criticisms.

[Blueknight V2.0]

7 hours ago, MetalSkulkBane said:

Umm, just ignore? Their opinions, their choice.

If he's being a real jerk you might wanna block or report or whatever. But sometimes it's not worth it.

If he's constructive or vague enough, I sometimes talk to them. I like trying to figure out why people think differently than me. Always respectfully, often not defending myself, just asking questions. You know, giving a dude enough rope to hang himself. "I'm a bit confused. You claim I did X, but I really don't see this. Can you elaborate?" Granted I regretted this once or twice, but as long as I keep emotional distance it's fine.

I mean, it's sorta context-dependent.

I agree with this 100%!

With the type of channel I run, it's almost guaranteed to get a negative comment & even trolling, no matter what you do, or what you think. Happens both on Twitter & YouTube, more than I really prefer actually. And while I respect everyone's opinions, no matter the subject. Most of the time I ignore the negativity, like strong swearing & degrading comments. I just remove them, block, etc. But that's up to a point. As it seems like if you have a different outlook on something, there's always someone looking to start something. Not everyone mind you, a good bit are willing to agree & be respectful about it.

I.E. the console war stuff that sprung up after the Activision/Microsoft acquisition news, and how certain ABK IP's will remain multiplatform. Me and a couple of other Crash/Spyro content creators were told to cope &/or to shut up about that being a possibility. We still respectifully replied to them, asked some questions. And I kinda regretted doing so a few times.

If it's constructive critisicm, it's always welcome! Because taking those things into account has helped my channel greatly! As well as improving my overall presence online, and how to best deal with certain comments. "Reply, or remain quiet?" Is always a question when it comes to any sort of comment.

But like Metal said, it's entirely based on the context of it. And interacting in any way, is like a minefield. You never know how it's gonna go.

[Rabbitearsblog]

30 minutes ago, Blueknight V2.0 said:

I agree with this 100%!

With the type of channel I run, it's almost guaranteed to get a negative comment & even trolling, no matter what you do, or what you think. Happens both on Twitter & YouTube, more than I really prefer actually. And while I respect everyone's opinions, no matter the subject. Most of the time I ignore the negativity, like strong swearing & degrading comments. I just remove them, block, etc. But that's up to a point. As it seems like if you have a different outlook on something, there's always someone looking to start something. Not everyone mind you, a good bit are willing to agree & be respectful about it.

I.E. the console war stuff that sprung up after the Activision/Microsoft acquisition news, and how certain ABK IP's will remain multiplatform. Me and a couple of other Crash/Spyro content creators were told to cope &/or to shut up about that being possibility. We still respectifully replied to them, asked some questions. And I kinda regretted doing so a few times.

If it's constructive critisicm, it's always welcome! Because taking those things into account has helped my channel greatly! As well as improving my overall presence online, and how to best deal with certain comments. "Reply, or remain quiet?" Is always a question when it comes to any sort of comment.

But like Metal said, it's entirely based on the context of it. And interacting in any way, is like a minefield. You never know how it's gonna go.

Some of the viewers told you to not talk about the Activision/Microsoft acquisition?  That's terrible!  Glad that you were able to handle all that!

[Blueknight V2.0]

23 minutes ago, Rabbitearsblog said:

Some of the viewers told you to not talk about the Activision/Microsoft acquisition?  That's terrible!  Glad that you were able to handle all that!

Well...that kinda stuff was actually limited to Twitter, and thankfully didn't spread to my comments section, as far as I remember anyway. Even tho most of the people watching that video weren't subscribed, they were still pretty respectful with their comments. And I like to see that!

I just wish that could happen more on Twitter.

[The Tenth Doctor]

Ran a Youtube channel since 06, had my fair share of negativity. I normally ignore them, my art style is not for everyone and I know my voice acting can annoy sometimes.

But over the last year I've had a recurring troll. Constantly commented on my cartoons about my Rouge voice and not getting the joke of why she sounded manly. Every video spammed about it. I tried to explain but just never got it, demanding I reanimate them for him. Blocked him. Not gonna reanimate old cartoons from 10 years ago cause he doesn't get a joke.

[Rabbitearsblog]

16 hours ago, The Tenth Doctor said:

Ran a Youtube channel since 06, had my fair share of negativity. I normally ignore them, my art style is not for everyone and I know my voice acting can annoy sometimes.

But over the last year I've had a recurring troll. Constantly commented on my cartoons about my Rouge voice and not getting the joke of why she sounded manly. Every video spammed about it. I tried to explain but just never got it, demanding I reanimate them for him. Blocked him. Not gonna reanimate old cartoons from 10 years ago cause he doesn't get a joke.

I would have done the same thing. If I told that person once that I can't do what they asked of me, but they are still bugging me about it and being very rude about it, then I will block that person, no questions ask.

[SenEDDtor Missile]

You accept the reality that people like them exist, then either reply based on whether you think it's worth replying to, or move on.

[JezMM]

If it's on your content, you have the right to curate that space.  If you think someone is posting in bad faith or to intentionally harrass you, delete and block that shit.

This is important too - delete it on sight.  Don't give yourself a chance to second guess yourself.  Make it easy to forget what it even was that they wrote.  They spent precious time in their life on that mean-spirited comment, hoping to get a rise out of you - waste their time.

 

Of course, it's best to save this sort of thing for the stuff that really matters.  If you delete every form of negativity that comes your way, that might be a bad look for you and have consequences in the long run (like, your audience may have less respect for you if they think a comment was well-meaning or true and you are coming across as refusing to accept anything other than praise etc).

Having said that, even though the golden rule people always tend to say is that "constructive criticism is fine!", that doesn't mean "unsolicited constructive criticism is fine".  It's okay to be upset by critique that you never asked for, and it is not your responsibility to entertain every critique that comes your way, no matter how well-meaning or thoughtfully written it is.  In those cases, it's best to just ignore the comment or politely thank them for the effort but affirm that, while you understand they're well-meaning and this may affect your ability to improve, you're not looking for constructive criticism at this time and are just creating for the fun of it (or whatever your reason is).

[Sapphirine Wind]

There's no shame in making use of the block button. it could be for serious topics or not so serious topics, or just cause they said something that you didn't like. You're the curator of your internet experience, so when you can curate it, use the tool. Even if it is a bit minor.

[GeAr-DX]

Normally I ignore, if the one talking is someone that I know I just go and beat the crap out of him. Simple.

[Roger_van_der_weide]

I usually respond with a "I'll consider your points". I used to mock them because it's fun, but eh.
Well, if they're just jerks I ignore them and let them have their fun, but reasonable critical responses deserve at least an acknowledgement I read it and consider it, even if I won't do anything with it later on.

[Duelistic Nature]

It sucks when you're the target of negativity. I feel it's important to understand the subtext of why someone's negative about something you posted/ made/ said. Nowadays it's easy to just speak your mind about something you don't like, but when you receive some that means that person took the time and energy to state his/her/their opinion on something. The least you could do is ask why they think that way, but only if you're really interested in wanting to know why people are so negative.

Could be that they were in a particularly foul mood, the topic is very sensitive to them, they are confused/ misunderstood something, are trolling or maybe they were drunk. Who knows.

All I can recommend is to keep an open door for people to explain their opinion and if they don't want to then you're just as entitled to ignore them.

Personally, I can't relate to the social media portion because so far I haven't had my own social space to post things about myself. However, that doesn't mean I haven't had to deal with some serious negativity before.

On 7/26/2022 at 11:07 PM, MetalSkulkBane said:

 Always respectfully, often not defending myself, just asking questions. You know, giving a dude enough rope to hang himself. "I'm a bit confused. You claim I did X, but I really don't see this. Can you elaborate?"

Also a big fan of this method. Especially when I can debunk the entire elaboration.

 

Edited July 31, 2022 by Duelistic Nature

[randrid]

 

Just think logically. Most people's negative comments are just generic spew to hurt you.

Constructive criticism is quite rare nowadays

 

[Rabbitearsblog]

I'm a bit curious about this, but what happens if it's a big name content creator who is being negative on your content?  Would they be more problematic to handle or can you still ignore them, even if they are big names in social media?

[Duelistic Nature]

In my eyes, they're still people. Clout doesn't mean anything in my eyes when you're sharing opinions without good reasoning behind them. If he/ she is a content creator then they would know stuff about certain topics certainly, but that still doesn't excuse them from being negative towards your content unless your content was a direct attack on them.

in short; being a hotshot doesn't excuse you from being a douche to other people.

[Rabbitearsblog]

12 hours ago, Duelistic Nature said:

In my eyes, they're still people. Clout doesn't mean anything in my eyes when you're sharing opinions without good reasoning behind them. If he/ she is a content creator then they would know stuff about certain topics certainly, but that still doesn't excuse them from being negative towards your content unless your content was a direct attack on them.

in short; being a hotshot doesn't excuse you from being a douche to other people.

That's true.  Just because you are a content creator or even a big name content creator, doesn't mean that you should still be nasty to other people for having different opinions.

[Nazo the Hedgehog]

I would respect what they say because, what if it is something that you could improve upon. Besides, it's their opinion, haters will hate. I wouldn't take it too personally because they could be in a bad mood or some other factors could've been involved to cause them to give negative comments. One thing I wouldn't do is attack them, it's a redundant move. What if that person is going through something, then where would that leave you. But if they're just trying to troll, then give them a taste of their own medicine and pretend you never heard of that person.

[Rabbitearsblog]

2 hours ago, Nazo the Hedgehog said:

I would respect what they say because, what if it is something that you could improve upon. Besides, it's their opinion, haters will hate. I wouldn't take it too personally because they could be in a bad mood or some other factors could've been involved to cause them to give negative comments. One thing I wouldn't do is attack them, it's a redundant move. What if that person is going through something, then where would that leave you. But if they're just trying to troll, then give them a taste of their own medicine and pretend you never heard of that person.

Yeah, I tend to like it when some comments give me a bit of constructive criticism on my videos.  If I didn't get some of the constructive criticisms about my YouTube videos, like how I tended to stutter a lot in my videos or how my camera angle made it hard for them to see me, then my channel wouldn't be growing as it is now.

[Blueknight V2.0]

On 7/26/2022 at 11:51 PM, Blueknight V2.0 said:

I.E. the console war stuff that sprung up after the Activision/Microsoft acquisition news, and how certain ABK IP's will remain multiplatform. Me and a couple of other Crash/Spyro content creators were told to cope &/or to shut up about that being a possibility. We still respectifully replied to them, asked some questions. And I kinda regretted doing so a few times.

Once again, my way of looking at things doesn't always go well. As apparently I learned the hard way, that there are groups within communities (almost on par with the "console war" nonsense) that will tell you to let go of something (which me & a couple other content creators did), but they themselves won't. Even going as far as releasing bash videos (for one with strong language, it was supposedly "constructive criticism", which wasn't the vibe any of us got), just for us thinking a certain way, mentioning possibilities & asking questions. Then claiming we said something with full assurance, which wasn't the case.

Of course, this ultimately led to multiple blockings, so we can have a bit more mental clarity & not be brought down by their antics & insults. The latter I'm very vocal about.

I try to give everyone the benefit of the doubt & try to explain certain things about their opinions. But once I seen it was getting kinda one-sided, I should've realized that there's no pleasing them, and should've just ignored them right then & there, instead of getting dragged into something that never seemed to end.

As previously mentioned, how each of these things are handled, it's a case by case basis. And it's a minefield I should've stayed out of, and now I'm taking the necessary steps to have a healthier experience on all platforms (who can reply, that sort of thing). You just gotta move forward & not let them get the best of you (in my case, again).

[Rabbitearsblog]

11 hours ago, Blueknight V2.0 said:

Once again, my way of looking at things doesn't always go well. As apparently I learned the hard way, that there are groups within communities (almost on par with the "console war" nonsense) that will tell you to let go of something (which me & a couple other content creators did), but they themselves won't. Even going as far as releasing bash videos (for one with strong language, it was supposedly "constructive criticism", which wasn't the vibe any of us got), just for us thinking a certain way, mentioning possibilities & asking questions. Then claiming we said something with full assurance, which wasn't the case.

Of course, this ultimately led to multiple blockings, so we can have a bit more mental clarity & not be brought down by their antics & insults. The latter I'm very vocal about.

I try to give everyone the benefit of the doubt & try to explain certain things about their opinions. But once I seen it was getting kinda one-sided, I should've realized that there's no pleasing them, and should've just ignored them right then & there, instead of getting dragged into something that never seemed to end.

As previously mentioned, how each of these things are handled, it's a case by case basis. And it's a minefield I should've stayed out of, and now I'm taking the necessary steps to have a healthier experience on all platforms (who can reply, that sort of thing). You just gotta move forward & not let them get the best of you (in my case, again).

That's what I tend to do.  Best to ignore them than to engage with their insults.