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Webinars: Handling negative flames/troll posts from competitors?

by kencalhn
9 replies
Hi -

I had a recent somewhat disappointing experience in doing a partner webinar where 3-4 people (most likely competitors) posted a lot of negative things during my presentation, until a moderator eventually booted them out. At the end of the event, dozens posted positive comments, so it went well overall.

Any ideas on handling "flames" or other negative troll-type comments during webinars, if you're the presenter? I just ignored them, til they were booted out, though many years ago I also ran into that, where competitors would come in and trash-talk the webinar then spam it with their URLs during the event etc.

Seems like the internet brings out disappointing behavior from a tiny percentage of people who are unhappy or negative. Any ideas on what can be done? Usually I have my webinars in moderated/no-comments-from-participants-seen mode, to avoid competitors' slams. But with partner events sometimes they don't moderate the negative posts, so I'm trying to figure out what to do.

I try to be gracious, or use humor to gently deflect it, and it's thankfully very rare... any ideas? It makes me a bit disappointed to put hours of work into preparing for a professional world-class level event, only to see it "rained on" by a few negative people, which undermine credibility, which is why competitors do that. Goes with the territory/get thick skin i guess is one approach, too, since anyone who's well-known in their niche will have detractors/competitors attacks to deal with.

thx...
#competitors #flames or troll #handling #negative #posts #webinars
  • Profile picture of the author ElijahBrewer
    First, when you set up the partner events, ask the question to see if they can set it up to moderate the comments. Doesnt seem like it should be too big of a deal. Second, ignore it. focus on the positive and like the great Sammy Sosa would say-"Keep it Continue!"
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  • Profile picture of the author Warrior X
    You got it man, don't engage. Sounds like the host really needs to be pre-moderating comments if that sort of thing is common in your business.

    --Jeremy
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    • Profile picture of the author Karen Blundell
      aww...
      sorry to hear that!

      but there's always haters...just do your thing and don't let their bs get in the way of your success.

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  • Profile picture of the author WebPen
    Sounds to me like it ended up well. I think you made the best choice by just having a moderator give em the boot.
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  • Profile picture of the author kencalhn
    hey thanks, makes sense... that's what my wife said too, is "don't feed the trolls", kind of like on forums/social media, because it's like rewarding a misbehaving child. it's surprising how many people are negative (in forums too for that matter) and say things online, in webinars/responses to news site articles/whatever, that they'd never say in person face to face. or competitors trying to make others look bad on purpose, sabotaging behavior.

    Wouldn't it be great if everyone were mature, honest, professional and positive, "ladies and gentlemen" instead of the lowbrow stuff that's online so much. right Karen re "haters gonna hate" so focus on the positive is the best way to go. Thanks for the good ideas and perspective, it helps.
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  • Profile picture of the author robertahill
    I agree with the other comments. While I do a lot of webinars - I don't get hassled much (sometimes a person monopolizing but that is a different issue.) Howerver, I have had to field a lot of negativity in live presentations. This is were I learned, it you can hang in to the right moment - the negativity will work to your advantage. Attendees are there to learn things and if what you have to offer has value then eventually they will get fed up with the behaviour of those negative people and they will often start to comment. If they don't by the time you "shut them down" they are glad someone has taken some action. No one likes all that negative engery. It is even better if a moderator can do it for you.

    After it is over people identify with you and how you handled it graciously but without allowing yourself to be walked over. They will not focus on any negatives in what you had to say but will tend to be even more supportive.

    Timing is everything because you don't want people to hang up out of frustration. That is the art part.

    You handled it well - even though I know you tend to revisit it afterward wondering if you could have done anything else - nope - you did it right.
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  • Profile picture of the author piinc
    Originally Posted by kencalhn View Post

    Hi -

    I had a recent somewhat disappointing experience in doing a partner webinar where 3-4 people (most likely competitors) posted a lot of negative things during my presentation, until a moderator eventually booted them out. At the end of the event, dozens posted positive comments, so it went well overall.

    Any ideas on handling "flames" or other negative troll-type comments during webinars, if you're the presenter? I just ignored them, til they were booted out, though many years ago I also ran into that, where competitors would come in and trash-talk the webinar then spam it with their URLs during the event etc.

    Seems like the internet brings out disappointing behavior from a tiny percentage of people who are unhappy or negative. Any ideas on what can be done? Usually I have my webinars in moderated/no-comments-from-participants-seen mode, to avoid competitors' slams. But with partner events sometimes they don't moderate the negative posts, so I'm trying to figure out what to do.

    I try to be gracious, or use humor to gently deflect it, and it's thankfully very rare... any ideas? It makes me a bit disappointed to put hours of work into preparing for a professional world-class level event, only to see it "rained on" by a few negative people, which undermine credibility, which is why competitors do that. Goes with the territory/get thick skin i guess is one approach, too, since anyone who's well-known in their niche will have detractors/competitors attacks to deal with.

    thx...
    If you're using GotoWebinar, I believe it allows only you to view the negative comments and no one else OR (if I remember correctly) you can prevent anyone from posting anything however, the former is the best!

    You can read the questions or comments to people without them having to follow the thread while you're talking.

    It's more professional that way.
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  • Profile picture of the author J Bold
    Simple, use a webinar system that only allows attendees to see what YOU post in the chat box, and only YOU see what attendees are saying to you.

    Problem solved.
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  • Profile picture of the author HelpingYouBeAnExpert
    Some people are just negative and blame others for things they don't have the guts to do. I try to ignore them. I prefer people who try and fail then don't do anything and nitpick.
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