Dear Farillio member,

On 26th March 2021, you asked our amazing expert Katy Howell on the Go Far Fast Show:

“I had a really horrible experience last year with someone who posted something disgusting and untrue about me and my business and I lost some clients because of it. At the time, I just panicked and shut my account, but my husband told me that was a mistake. I was so gutted and upset that I couldn’t deal with it. Now one of my friends is being trolled too – what’s your advice?”

And Katy said:

Be mighty always, Farillio

Transcript:

“First of all, I am so sorry. This is the nasty side of social media. There are trolls and, if they're not being slanderous or defamatory, they are just being horrible and rude. They comment on how you look and all sorts. The keyboard Warriors are a troublesome lot. I'm really sad that you shut your profile down. The reality is that what you should do is block and then report. If what they're saying is defamatory or slanderous then you can also report it to the police, who can make a case for tracking that person down. It depends on how severe it is and it takes forever to get done. I would say that the bigger challenge for you to think about is how you can ensure that your clients and customers feel confident in you. A troll is a troll is a troll. Without knowing the actual specifics of this case, one of the things that you do when you're in social media is to look at your own business and look at what you might do in the future. How might you actually deal with this? How can you get ahead of that troll? Your friend, who has problems but who hasn't closed their social media accounts, might well send an email to all of her clients saying “I want to raise awareness around some issues that have been raised and here is my response to them”. I'm giving short bits of advice here because it's very difficult without knowing the actual scenario. I don't want to give you misinformation, but certainly closing down your route to communication over one or two individuals is not always necessary. There are tools within the social networks to report this and to get bullies and those that are spreading misinformation off the system.”

Ask your question:

If you have any questions that you'd like us to ask in a future Go Far Fast Show, send us a DM on Twitter or on LinkedIn. We'd love to hear from you!

Want more from Katy?

You can also find Katy’s answers to other questions being asked by you and your community in our Dear Farillio Expert section on our blog site, and Katy’s great guidance on social media here.

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