It doesn’t matter if you are running a social media marketing campaign, advertising, or just trying to build rapport with your customers – there are always people who are not being constructive.
They don’t come to your business’ page to learn, share their opinions, or report a legitimate concern. No, they arrive to make your day miserable because they derive some sort of an obscene pleasure from making others suffer.
I’m talking, of course, about social media spammers and trolls.
Not only are they annoying but they can also do serious damage to your brand. Think about it – somebody can post a malicious link in your comment section that will lead your customers (or potential customers) to a scamming website or install malware on their devices. It would be quite disastrous to your reputation so you have to deal with it and do it quickly.
Luckily, to do that, it’s not necessary to get super-technical and install third-party solutions like Avast or IPVanish. Trolls on social media can be dealt with using just the tools given to us by social networks themselves.
And today, I’m going to show you how.
A small side note
Though I’m sure you fully understand it, I think it’s worth reiterating that you should only block people who are actually social media trolls or spammers. There are customers who can be annoying on social media but still have legitimate questions. They should be dealt with in a respectful manner.
1. Blocking social media trolls on Facebook
Facebook is the most popular network to get in touch with your clients and promote your brand. More than 80 million small and medium businesses do it regularly. With such a large coverage, it’s no wonder Facebook attracts so many spammers and trolls.
So how do you deal with them?
First of all, you need to be logged in to your Facebook account to block someone.
Second, locate the circle with the question mark in the top bar:
Then, click on it. You will see this dropdown menu show up. You need to click the Privacy Shortcuts button:
Right at the top of that page is an area titled Privacy. Click See more privacy settings:
You will find the Blocking section on the left:
Clicking on it will take you to the next page. Just copy the name of the account that is bothering you and paste it in in the highlighted box:
Click block, and that pesky social media troll won’t be able to ruin your day anymore!
2. Blocking social media trolls on Pinterest
Pinterest has become a great tool to raise your brand awareness in the past few years. More than 300 million people use it so there is a lot of potential for your marketing campaigns. But as it always is, the bigger the pond, the more food in it for the trolls.
The good news is that it’s very easy to block and report them on this site. Here’s how you do it:
First of all, you go to the profile of the user you want to block. Right next to the Follow button, you’re going to find a round icon with three dots in it. Click it, and a drop-down menu will appear:
Just click Block. When you do this, Pinterest will ask you for confirmation.
Confirm it, and you are all set!
3. Blocking social media trolls on Instagram
If the product or service you sell can benefit from visual representation, you very likely use Instagram for its promotion. The reason is simple – with its outstanding active user base of more than 1 billion, it is a great site to reach out to your customers.
And if you do use Instagram, you probably know the feeling when you see that your post has garnered new comments only to check them and find out that they are all senseless spam and not real consumer feedback.
In this case, it’s time to go on a blocking spree! Thankfully, doing it is just as easy as using Instagram in general.
Head over to the assailant’s profile first. There, you will find the familiar three dots button.
Remember all the stupid or even harmful comments this person has written under your posts and click that button like there’s no tomorrow.
You can either report or block a user this way. If you feel that their comments have been illegal, you may go with the first option.
Otherwise, if they are simply annoying and irrelevant to your page, just block them.
When you click the Block button, you will see this window pop up and ask you if you want to walk the talk. Just confirm your decision, and that troll will never bother you again!
This message will show up, informing you that you can unblock that user in case you believe in redemption:
One way or another, dismiss it and enjoy the sense of satisfaction.
4. Blocking social media trolls on YouTube
Having a YouTube channel is practically imperative nowadays for businesses. Chances are, you have one (or, likely, several) as well. What does it mean?
On the one hand, it raises brand awareness and acts as a means of communication with those people who are your clients and converting
those who are not (yet). But on the other hand, your YouTube videos are to trolls what an open jar of honey is to flies.
And just like that, you have to unholster your figurative banhammer and go to town on those spammers and trolls.
First off, go to their profile by simply clicking their nickname. There, in the bar under the avatar, find the About subheading in the far right:
Click it and directly under the word “about” you will see some stats. However, they are of no interest to you. What’s more important is that little flag at the bottom.
Don’t hesitate to press that button. It will display the following message:
Click Submit, and now you have one problem fewer than a moment ago.
5. Blocking social media trolls on Twitter
Who doesn’t have a Twitter account these days? There, you can communicate with your clients, make announcements, and perform other marketing activities. Obviously, it needs protection against social media trolls just like all other social media.
If such a need arises, go to the offender’s profile just as usual. Right next to the Follow button, you will see our good friend the triple-dot.
Twitter gives you several options of how to deal with spammers. From the least to most severe, they are Mute, Block, and Report. The Report one will result in the suspension of the account so it requires a moderator’s involvement. The other two variants, though, are much simpler.
When you mute someone, they can still see your posts and reply to them but you won’t see their posts. That’s not optimal because other users will be able to see them and you don’t want to subject your customers to that.
That leaves us with blocking. So click the three-dots icon and in the next menu choose Block:
As usual, you will be prompted to confirm your decision, which you should do.
And to show you that your trouble is no more, this message will be displayed:
Yay! Now your Twitter account won’t be flooded with senseless twits!
Wrapping up
Now you know how to block the undesirables on your business social media. As you have seen, it’s very easy to do but it will make your pages much cleaner and more pleasant to use – for both you and your clientele.
