How do you respond to personal forum threats ?

[Cedric]

I wanted to open up a discussion about a topic that can be quite challenging for any community manager or forum owner - dealing with your community being threatenend. Unfortunately, it's not uncommon for online communities to face negativity, trolls, or even deliberate attacks from external sources.

Has anyone here experienced such a situation? How did you handle it, and what lessons did you learn from the experience? Let's share our thoughts and strategies to help each other navigate through tough times.

First of all, stay calm. In the face of negativity or targeted attacks, it's essential to remain calm and composed. Responding emotionally can escalate the situation further. Take some time to process the situation before responding. It's advised to communicate transparent. Keep your community members informed about what's happening. Transparency can create trust and help members understand the situation better. They might also have some valuable insights or suggestions to offer. You need to enforce community guidelines. Ensure that your community guidelines are clear and strictly enforced. By maintaining a strong and supportive community culture, you can deter potential troublemakers and create a safe environment for your members.

Don't be afraid to reach out for help. Don't hesitate to seek support from other community managers, forum owners, or online groups. Sharing experiences and strategies can provide valuable insights and encouragement. Most importantly, don't engage with trolls. Trolls often thrive on getting a reaction from you. Refrain from engaging with them directly, as it may escalate the situation. Instead, focus on moderating and removing harmful content. I would also keep track and document everything. If the situation escalates to a point where you need to involve authorities or take legal action, having clear documentation of the incidents is crucial. Keep records of any harmful content, interactions, or communications.

Don't forget to review your security measures. Assess your forum's security and privacy settings. Consider implementing additional measures such as two-factor authentication, IP bans for repeat offenders, and spam filters. Remember, facing adversity can be a challenging experience, but it can also be an opportunity to strengthen your community bonds and showcase your resilience as a community leader.

So, what has your experience taught you in this subject?

 

[joelr]

Don't engage with trolls - This one sounds easy to do, but not so easy in practice. A lot of times, trolls start out as well-intentioned and passionate users who like to give feedback. Trying to assess their intention of whether they're giving vocal feedback in good faith or in bad faith can sometimes be challenging.

 

[Ravenfreak]

As someone who dealt with this in the past and didn't have much experience with even being an admin at the time I panicked and even engaged with the trolls. Two things you should never do, and thankfully my co-admin had much more experience than I did so he helped me get the community back on track. I banned the accounts, removed their posts and made sure that admin approval for accounts was on for a few days afterwards.

 

[Alex]

These are some great tips @Cedric , thank you for listing them. I think the biggest thing as you said is to remain calm and most of these threats are said out of anger and people do not mean them, as they are said in the heat of the moment.

Fortunately it’s something I have not yet come across on Bizdustry.

 

[SDL]

I’ve been lucky enough to not experience that so those tips are very helpful to have for future reference, although fingers crossed I won’t need to use them!

 

[Paul]

Only a few months ago, had this happen by someone claiming to be a witch.

My forum is very easy going, threads get taken over and you don't need to stay on topic all the time but we do have one thread titled "describe your day in one word" which was started by a girl about 4 years ago. She has since passed away and out of respect for her, we do like that thread to stay as the title says, one word but this 'witch' wasn't having any of that and eventually threatened me with rubbish like "don't get on the bad side of a witch", her post was archived and she deleted herself. Haven't heard from her since. What a shame

 

[Cory]

Don't engage with trolls - This one sounds easy to do, but not so easy in practice.

When my forum was "attacked" by trolls at one point on the days of Zathyus Networks, I fed them. They posted a blog about how crappy our services were and the staff too and I replied to that blog with a long comment fighting back at them pretty much. One of the much older, wiser staff members told me feeding them was not a good idea and that was only what they wanted. So, I agree that you do not feed the trolls, it's generally what they want. They're looking for a reaction or a fight.