Thriving Despite Cyberbullying and Scathing Feedback

How To Deal with YouTube Trolls and Negative Comments

Richard Bennett

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

If you have put a lot of work into your YouTube videos then it only makes sense that you have an emotional investment in them. When someone leaves a mean, negative comment on one of your videos it will likely affect you. It may make you angry, hurt your feelings, or just leave you baffled over how someone could come away from your video with out-of-the-blue opinion the hater has posted. ‘Do not feed the trolls’ is a mantra that can be hard to abide by. This article will explain why you should not engage trolls and how to talk to them if you find yourself doing it anyways.

How to Deal with Negative Comments on YouTube

1. Identifying Trolls / When Is A Troll Not a Troll?

The internet is full of trolls and if you continue making YouTube videos – especially videos that get a lot of views – then you are sure to be attacked by a few. Or, alternatively, a troll may attack your other viewers in the comments of your videos. It is extremely easy to be a troll and so there are a lot of them.

Most trolls are easy to spot. They leave comments designed to hurt you or make you angry, often using over-the-top offensive language. Not all trolls are so obvious, though. Some trolls will be nice at first – flatteringly nice, even – and it will take a few comments before they turn on you or your subscribers. They want you to like them so you put more stock in what they are saying later and take longer to start ignoring them. Some trolls will even go back to being nice to reel you back in.

It is important to remember that not everybody who leaves negative comments on YouTube videos is a troll. Step back from your emotional reaction to a comment and make sure there is really nothing constructive in it before you dismiss it. Some people have nasty ways of expressing legitimate opinions, and sometimes even when there is no decipherable meaning behind a rude comment the person is not trying to troll you. Some people just have poor communication skills. For example, if someone leaves a comment on your video that consists of only the word ‘bad’ you cannot know for sure what they meant. It could be that they are agreeing with something you mentioned disliking in the video.

2. Why You Shouldn’t Talk To Trolls

Trolls are bored and looking for attention. When you respond, they win. You may think you are demonstrating to them that they were out of line, or logically proving them wrong, but the troll does not care. Your outraged responses are what trolls want and will only entertain them.

Also, trolls do not care if they are wrong. They almost always seem to think that their opinions are the only ones that count for anything, but quite often their opinions are not even their real opinions. Chances are they do not actually believe anything they are saying to you they just know what to say to make you mad. Remember that you will always be more invested in any interaction you have with a troll than they are. For them it is a game and they cannot lose because they do not really care. If you take the bait it’s fun, and if you do not then they will move on to a target that will. Even if you put hours of effort into chasing off a troll and manage to make them go away they will have enjoyed the whole thing and you will be left exhausted.

3. But If You Do…

While you should avoid talking to trolls, sometimes you cannot. Trolls occasionally start off making kind comments or asking legitimate questions to lure you in. You might be a couple comments into a conversation before a troll reveals their true colors.

There are also times when you respond even though you know you should not because you just cannot let a specific rude comment go unanswered. It is easy to say you should never feed the trolls, but a lot of people cannot help it. If you find yourself engaging a troll there are a few things you can do to try and manage the situation.

First, avoid using any emotional language; they love that. Keep your responses either pleasantly detached or dry and factual. Say what you feel you need to say and ask the troll for more information. If the troll has made a false claim then ask them for evidence as if you are genuinely interested in learning more. It is highly unlikely they will be able to provide any, although they may make something up. If the troll has made a blanket statement about how terrible they think you are then pretend you either value their input or find them funny and ask them to explain. They will either leave or respond with more insults.

You will not get the troll to say they were wrong or apologize so that should never be your goal. What you can do is create a public record of the troll being corrected for others to judge for themselves. If you maintain a calm, unaffected, tone then the troll will find you boring.

Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Unlimited Christmas Classics: 9 Films Available for No Charge

Watch 9 Free Full Length Christmas Movies On Youtube

Shanoon Cox

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

If you are looking for Christmas entertainment this season you may be quick to look towards a provider like iTunes or Netflix to give you some excellent Christmas movies. The good news is that you can also find a number of excellent classic Christmas movies on YouTube. Accessing these movies on YouTube while to save your rental fees as well as make sure that you can have a steady stream of Christmas entertainment whoever you might be visiting over the holiday season. Here are some of the top 10 classic movies that you can find for free on YouTube right now.

1. The nutcracker 1990

The Nutcracker is a holiday classic that many people seek out every year on the stage. This family ballet classic was filmed by the Pacific Northwest ballet in a huge and lavish version of the production in 1986. This still stands as one of the best versions of the Nutcracker ever captured on film and you can watch it for free on YouTube. You can find the Nutcracker at :

2. A smoky mountain Christmas

A Smoky Mountain Christmas is a film from 1986 directed by Harry Winkler and starring Lee Majors and Dolly Parton. The full musical fairy tale can be found online on YouTube and it’s about a country singer who is trying to spend a quiet Christmas holiday at home. She suddenly becomes involved with a mysterious mountain man, an evil witch and is forced to protect seven orphans over the holidays. This film can be found at:

3. Ernest saves Christmas

This film from 1989 features Jim Varney and his most famous character Ernest in a holiday Christmas movie that is an instant classic. This film is very funny and a favorite amongst some of the Ernest films for many. This Christmas movie from 1989 can be found at:

4. A Christmas story

A Christmas story has long been one of the favorite Christmas movies for many families. In this film from 1983 we travel back in time to a traditional 1940s Christmas. In this film we follow the nine-year-old Ralphie who is looking for the famous red Ryder BB gun for Christmas and will stop at absolutely nothing to get it. A Christmas story can be found at:

5. Richie Rich’s Christmas wish

In this film from 1998 we hear the story of the richest kid in the world on Christmas. In this film we see the richest in the world wishing that he had never been born with the wish coming true. Richie needs to find himself a new wishing machine and a way out of the parallel universe he gets stuck in to get back to his family. You can find this film at:

6. On the second day of Christmas

This film stars the hulk Mark Ruffalo in one of his earlier roles as a store employee who catches a con woman trying to steal from a department store on Christmas. His character agrees to be responsible for the con woman and her niece over the holidays to prevent them from staying with social services. A romance develops! This 1997 film can be found at:

7. Santa Who?

Santa who is a film from the year 2000 starring Leslie Nielsen. In this holiday classic Santa suffers a severe case of amnesia on Christmas Eve and needs to recover for Christmas day in order to make it through and deliver presents to all of the good children of the world. See if Santa gets his Christmas memories back by watching Santa Who here:

8. A Christmas Carol

In this film from 1984 George C Scott brings to life the role of Ebenezer Scrooge from the perspective of the Charles Dickens novel. This is heavily been regarded as one of the most accurate versions to the Charles Dickens story. Although it may not have all of the special effects of some of the other versions of a Christmas carol this is still one of the favored versions of the story out there. You can watch this 1984 film here:

9. Miracle on 34th street

In this recreation of the original film from 1947 this shortened full-length version from 1955 per trade is the classic story of santa on trial. A department store Santa suggests that he’s the real santa and goes on trial to prove it. In this version of miracle on 34th Street starring Thomas Mitchell and Macdonald Carey we learn who really believes in Santa Claus. You can find this classic film here:

Shanoon Cox

Shanoon Cox is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Shanoon Cox