Meanies In The Forums- How Should You Respond?

We have all been there. You are on a hair site, and you like it. You like the articles and you like the comments that people leave, and you have even gotten some good ideas and info. So naturally, if you find that you have a question, you think that going into the forums would be good. You either find a question already in the forum or you post an new one. Either way, you may be going about your beautiful business, when BAM! there it is.  A mean comment.

This has happened to me a few times, on different sites. I find that there is a comment on my comment, so I go to take a look. Of course, I am excited, as anything about hair or clothes or makeup fascinates me. Most of the time, the feedback is great, but other times….hmm. Here are a few gems I vividly remember:

“I’m sure you couldn’t pull that hairstyle off, it’s too cute”

“That was a dumb thing to say”

“I bet you don’t have a life, cause I see your comments all the time”

“You’re ugly, and gross, why are you here? Boo Hoo your hair is nappy”- (keep in mind this is on a forum page where we are all faceless, no pics)

I must admit that when I first read some of the mean comments I would look around my empty room, incredulous, like the comments were surely not aimed at me. There must have been some mistake, they must be talking to the imaginary person in my kitchen? Then I would be like, “O-Kay! You wanna take it there?! Let’s take it there!” Then of course I would think of some amazingly brilliant comeback, precisely worded, and then-

Um, then?

Nothing.

Yup.

No Response. Because it would dawn on me that a) this person is probably a troll or b) they are the ones with no life, and are to be pitied, and c) I do not go to forums to fight with strangers. I go there to communicate like a mature adult and to share information.

Yes, beauties, it is far too easy to get caught up cyber-arguing with a computer screen. Because unless these people have Skype, that’s what I would be doing, isn’t it? This is not to say that there cannot be disagreements, but if the interaction takes a wrong turn, I stop typing. I move on. My time and energy is valuable. Why should I, or anyone else with common sense and courtesy, waste either one  on a person who goes out of their way to be negative, petty, or downright hateful? Really, are these the people you want to interact with? Do you want to give them precious minutes of your life?  You could use that time reading positive articles or something, or laughing at funny cat pictures on Google. (That last one is me, sorry)

So, the moral of this is that meanies on the forums only want to get you riled up. They do not want to help you. They are bored, and their day is going crappy, so they want to make your day crappy too.  Do not give them the satisfaction. You really can’t win an argument with a forum meanie, so why bother? Never let anyone steal your joy. And that applies to more than forums.

Do you reply to mean people in the forums? Why or why not?