In case you haven’t noticed yet, people on the Internet are often NASTY. The anonymity that the Internet offers, coupled with the fact they don’t have to look the other person in the eye while spewing hatred, makes the Internet a very scary place at times.

Not always, of course. Many people manage to keep the important rule of online behavior that says that you should act online the same way you would act offline. But many others become extremely aggressive online.

On a personal level, the best thing one can do when faced with personal insults is probably to devalue the feedback. Any feedback that is given anonymously is not real feedback and should not be taken at face value. Harsh anonymous feedback is cowardly. It would be a mistake to give it any value and to take it personally.

As a company, you need to make sure that your social media manager never loses their cool online. It’s not always easy, because even when you represent a company, online haters can find a way to insult you personally. It’s absolutely crucial to instruct the manager to always breathe deeply and count to ten when faced with aggressive or hurtful behavior online, and to always respond politely.

Of course, there’s nothing wrong with simply deleting hateful comments and wall posts, as long as they are just that – hateful and spiteful. This is very different than a legitimate complain, which should always be addressed promptly.