How to correctly respond to comments on the Internet

Discussions draw attention to the story, which increases traffic.
Engaging with your audience will keep you on track.
Other people's opinions, like their behavior, can give you new ideas.
You, as the author, are responsible to the readers.
It is necessary to maintain an image in the eyes of readers. To do this, you need to work out negative comments and, ideally, benefit from them.

Things to remember before responding to comments

Try to understand why the person thinks this way. It often happens that the material contains ambiguities and reasons for condemnation and indignation.
Determine if the commentator understood what the article is about. Often, a comment is a reaction not to the content, but to the headline, which is often clickbait. The excess of information has made us lazy, and not everyone is ready to read the article to express their opinion.
Watch your emotions and don't let them rule you. If a comment offended, outraged or humiliated you, and you are ready to throw thunder and lightning, this is a sure sign that you need to cool down. Never make public statements when you are overwhelmed with emotion. Then you will regret it. Readers will like the witty and calm author more than the touchy psycho.
Separate people from their ideas and thoughts. You may not agree with the opinion of the commentator, but this does not mean that he is a villain. Don't deprive people of the right to be different.

Remember these rules as you read the comments on your article. And in order to understand how to answer correctly, you need to find out who is in front of you.

What commentators are there and how to answer them

1. Consonants

Nice but boring. Thank you for the material and agree: "I agree", "Thanks for the article."

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There is not much to answer, so you can just rejoice or say thank you for your gratitude.

2. Petty

Find fault with minor bugs. Passed by, pointed out a defect, went on.

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Thank you for your valuable input and promise to improve.

3. Haters

Most toxic commentators. For some reason, we are convinced that it is you or your position that is to blame for their troubles, as well as the problems of the country and humanity. Previously, life was difficult for them, but the ability to throw out their aggression on the Internet on other people with impunity breathed life into them.

Haters are the most attentive readers. They will study your text inside and out for errors and inaccuracies and will sort it out in molecules.

They will find fault with thoughts, find information about you, turn everything upside down and write about it in the comments. Haters threaten to hit their faces and offer to score an arrow. At the same time, they are extremely cowardly and hide under pseudonyms. They can breed bots and arrange discussions between them. They write outrageous nastiness and are rude, but they show a subtle mental organization and are offended, as soon as you walk through them a little.

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If you are not confident in your strengths and wit, then it is better to ban immediately. But for starters, you can annoy, wittily and humorously reacting to attacks. The ban, to which you sooner or later send a hater, will look like the only and inevitable way to protect readers from an inadequate boor.

If there is no way to ban or delete other people's comments, make sure that the moderators delete them. To do this, provoke the hater to checkmate. You can also present him as an uninteresting and useless participant in the discussion.

In ordinary life, a hater can be an intelligent and sane person, but in a fit of righteous anger, he becomes very limited and controlled. Yes, it's manipulation, but if it's the only way to save the discussion, then why not use it?

4. Writers

Heavy artillery. They read the title or the first lines of the article, after which they hastily write a response, the content of which, as a rule, is very indirectly related to the original post. Comments in length may not be inferior to the original text.

They are real altruists, ready to share their ideas with everyone. At the same time, the offer to make material on the topic is perceived negatively and even sometimes as an insult. It is extremely difficult to conduct a dialogue with them, because they are always on their own wave and easily switch from any topic to their favorite. Unlike haters, they can write constructive things.

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Thanks for the comment, parse the arguments. If you are tired - offer to make an article based on what you have written. For some reason, they are not ready for this and rather quickly become silent.

5. Advertisers

Use the opportunity to comment for PR. There is a subgroup of narcissists who advertise themselves, and some of them do it very elegantly: "You said right here, read my article about this, and about this - my other article."

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It is best to point out that ads are inappropriate. If they don't calm down, remove the ad or complain.

6. Connoisseurs

They comment in order to declare themselves and their exceptional knowledge. They do not need to understand the topic, because they know everything. They consider themselves to be great specialists in everything and despise those who say something contrary to their ideas. They will, as a senior in rank, explain what a fool you are. In fact, these are non-self-sufficient and unhappy people-vampires who need you to realize their own complexes, since no one from the inner circle is already suitable for this.

Connoisseurs with regalia may also meet, who will tell how smart and experienced they are, confirming the words with numerous fictional or real regalia. Among them there are "staked out". They have certain merits in some narrow area and consider themselves the first and only in it. Such people perceive the attempt of outsiders to penetrate their sphere as aggression and an encroachment on private property. Unfortunately, there are some really talented people among them.

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Non-constructive commentator type. It is better to arrange a self-exposure session and catch on ignorance of the material. It also helps to gently provoke rudeness and pulling out regalia. First, they cannot be angry for a long time. Secondly, after this they will have no arguments. And in the eyes of readers, a person who boasts of their achievements without asking looks rather ridiculous, which gives you extra points.

In ethical terms, the regalia becomes an aggravating circumstance: what is allowed to the plumber Vasya from the third entrance is unacceptable for a teacher with 20 years of experience. If such a connoisseur is mistaken about the important things that he needs to know, point out unprofessionalism and demand that he admit his own wrong. Remember how ridiculous Alexander Nevzorov looked (though he didn’t show it) when Yuri Dud noted that he did not distinguish between the words “dress” and “put on”.

In general, connoisseurs have a bad sense of humor when it comes to their field. Therefore, good irony will give you a huge advantage and will be appreciated by other readers.

7. Advisors

There are people who know nothing or almost nothing, but at the same time like to give advice and take patronage over everyone. That being said, no matter what you do, they will always be right. Their favorite words: "You need to do this and that", "And I said, but he did not listen."

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It is best to thank ironically for the advice. Readers will appreciate your humor, and the advisor will be pleased that he helped.

8. Critics

The most useful type of commentator, as the critic is committed to the cause. The topic that you raised is important for him, and he offers his vision of the issue, because he wants to figure it out. The critic's reaction is a desire to do even better.

It is for the sake of critics that you need to read comments on any material if you want to understand the topic.

Often, such comments are more useful and deeper than the article itself. In addition, the critic can push you to new thoughts and discoveries.

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Appreciate your critics. Be sure to thank for the comment and note the concern for the topic. Listen to the recommendations. Offer cooperation.

Remember that one commentator can combine several types.

conclusions

Glory does not come alone: surely someone will not like what you are doing, and he will hasten to share his thoughts with you and with the whole world.
First of all, you need to work with comments.
Never give in to emotions. Calm down and think it over before answering.
Different people have different motivations, including when writing comments. You will benefit significantly if you know why people respond the way they do and how you can best respond.

It may seem that it is too difficult to communicate with the commentators. Think of it as a challenge. I assure you, this new activity will take you headlong.