Photography and Trolls - STOP Taking Them On!

Okay, so they're zombies and not trolls, but they still help to make the point. It's also one of my favorite shots from my first Dragon Con in 2014. Captured with a LUMIX GH3 and 12-35mm lens - minor post-processing done in Luminar.

by Skip Cohen

​​It's Marketing Monday and a topic that's on my mind every time somebody forgets how to behave in a public forum. While I hate to use a word like "behave," which we usually use as a reference for how our kids and puppies act, it seems to fit a lot of adults lately.

The topic is all about trolls, but the challenge isn't always their behavior, but how we interpret it. As an administrator on Facebook Wedding Photographers, we regularly get reports from members who report a particular comment. However, when I've gone to read some of them, outside of being obnoxious, there's nothing troll-like in what's been posted. Disagreeing with someone doesn't make the author a troll or deserve they be thrown out of the "family."

The written word is the toughest to interpret, especially when English isn't everybody's primary language in a forum of over 36,000 people. Plus, you don't have the benefit of hearing the tone in somebody's voice, seeing their facial expression, and making eye-contact. That leaves whatever's been written to interpretation. Often the author is labeled a troll when the issue is about poor communication.

But then there are the real trolls, people who hide behind the anonymity of their computer screens and take shots at everything they can find. If you take them on in a public forum, not only will you lose, but getting a rise out of you is precisely what they're after. You let them win simply by reacting.

Here a few things to remember the next time you decide to take on an actual troll:
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• There are no erasers on the Internet. Remember that anybody can read what you wrote and it's pretty much there forever.
• You'll never win in a public forum.
• Stay out of fights that aren't yours. If you need to comment, share something in support of the victim rather than attack the troll.
• Don't write anything you wouldn't want your clients to read!
• Rely on your network for support.

 
Some of you might be asking how in the world did I segue to trolls when it's Marketing Monday. Well, time is your most valuable commodity, and there's never enough of it. In the same way, you've learned the benefits of getting good images right out of the can, and to avoid wasting valuable time in post-processing, fighting battles with trolls is the same. 

Don't waste time you should be using to build your brand. For most of you, YOU are your brand. Don't let a troll occupy your time fighting issues that don't matter. And when a troll criticizes your photographs in a public forum, remember that line from my old buddy Dean Collins. I've used it dozens of times here in the blog...

Beauty is in the eyes of the checkbook holder!