Trolls and the Wisdom of Yogi Berra

“Never answer anonymous letters.” Yogi Berra

by Skip Cohen

So, what makes the quote funny is there was no way to answer anonymous letters at the time. There was no Internet. Yogi Berra was the master of disconnect when it came to some classic statements. There are some very funny quotes credited to this baseball legend, but this quote got me thinking about a challenge we all deal with today, trolls!

The hardest thing for any of us to deal with is somebody not liking something we did, said or wrote. Actually, it's not even the not liking part, it's the fact that we never get a chance to explain...or for that matter even apologize. They jump on us with all the finesse of a storm-trooper and at that point you have to make a decision to engage or just let it roll off your back.

My suggestion along with hundreds of experts on the subject of Internet communication is to NEVER engage. It's simply a waste of energy, time and it's not typically constructive.

Last January I was at a conference where Guy Kawasaki spoke and he talked about everybody always having at least one negative critic in the crowd. What was so entertaining about the topic was Guy's approach:

            "I do not engage trolls, but every now and then there's one that I like to take on, just to stay in shape!"

Scott Bourne has also commented and it's in his top ten list of tips for building strength in social media:

"Ignore your audience when they are complaining due to their false belief that they are ENTITLED to something from you other than the free gift you give them of your time.  Also ignore trolls. No good can ever, ever, ever come of responding to them."

So here's the point and it's a great one for a Saturday post. You can't do any more than your best. Regardless of what you post and share there will always be people who exhibit troll-like behavior and your best approach is simply to leave them alone. They tend to hide behind the anonymity of their computer screens forgetting my good buddy, Levi Sim's favorite suggestion for how we should all behave:

                                                                 "Act as if your grandmother is watching you!"

Happy Saturday everybody - make it a great weekend and thanks for your support here at SCU!

Photo Credit: Google Pics - Academy of Achievement - http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/ber0int-6

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