It's no secret that any sort of blogging whether it be fashion, lifestyle,cooking, or photography brings about commenters. With the internet being the incredible abyss of information and resources that it is, various unique visitors are brought to our blogs each and every day. Some of these visitors who don't allow allow their true identity to be discovered, I like to call 'anons.'
There are two types of anons. The kind ones, and the mean ones. Fairly elementary school, right? (If only everything in life could be separated between just good and bad). Here's a little about both:
The 'Kind' Anons.
Kind anons can sometimes be even nicer than regular blog followers themselves. They don't flood your comment box with the all too common, "awwssommeee blog! Check mine out plzz and enter my giveaway. Kissez!" Because anons don't give their names or the link to their blog (if they have one), a blogger doesn't need to worry about the evils of spamming. Additionally, some of the most heartfelt comments I've ever received have been from kind anonymous commenters. Without the fear of being judged by giving out a name, kind anon commenters let their true feelings and kindness radiate and leave a blogger feeling simply on top of the world. A kind comment from a stranger can make a blogger have a revelation that what they write about does affect others.
The 'Mean' Anons.
Ahh, but to everything good and beautiful there must be something evil and ugly to counteract, and that would be mean anonymous commenters. I've never really understood the mentality of mean anons. Why would you purposely set out to diminish and bring down another person's self esteem in a place where he or she has found safety and solitude? Why can't mean anons take the hint that 'if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all?" I've gotten my fair share of mean anonymous comments in my days of blogging. Receiving a comment as simple as, "u look soo fat in dis dress" can ruin my day, let alone anyone's day even though it is a silly, meaningless comment. No matter how hard any of us try not to let mean anons get to us, deep inside we know that underneath all of the misspelled words and horrific grammar that it bothers us. Mean anons seek to tear a blogger down in any way they can and make all of the silly insecurities we think about ourselves resurface. Mean anons are usually just sad people who jump around from blog to blog and write the first mean thing that comes to their mind. Most people think that anonymous commenters are long time readers, followers, or stalkers of their blog, but contrarily they are usually just lifeless losers who happen to drop by once and never come by again.
So how DO you deal with anons? The kind and the mean ones?
1. What if it's your first time receiving a mean comment? Don't sweat it. Know that you are not being personally attacked by this mean hearted soul. He or she has their own problem(s) (whether it be self-esteem issues, anger, or jealousy), and is taking it out on you. There are hundreds of thousands of other bloggers like you who also receive mean anonymous commenters, so don't ever feel like you're alone. All of us are in this together!
2. What if you're wondering how to reply to an anonymous commenter? Obviously you can't go to their blog and leave an answer in a comment or email them back, so sometimes it's helpful to set up a formspring account where anyone can ask a blogger questions. All an individual has to do is send in a question, and the owner of the account will receive the question, anwser it, and post it onto their formspring where the commenter can be properly answered. Additionally, two less effective ways are to address the comment in your next post, or to post a comment in your own comment box. Both ways are suitable, but the original question asker is less likely to see the anwser.
3. What should you do if you receive a mean anonymous comment? Coming from experience I've had; do.not.address.it. If a mean anon takes time to bring you down, what is the point in wasting your time to succumb to their level and reply back? When I once tried addressing the mean anon in a post, the commenter just keep egging me on and on for quite awhile and was relentless. By ignoring the commenter much strife and stress on your point will be avoided.
4. So if you shouldn't anwser it, what should you do? There's a couple options you can take to dealing with a mean comment. One option like I previously said is to ignore it, but I've found an even better method is to delete the comment. Having that negative energy and person on your blog hosts no benefits to you as a blogger or person. You'll just obsess about the comment and keep going back to it and thinking about it. By simply deleting the comment you delete that negativity from your life. In a few weeks, you won't even be able to remember you had a mean comment. Additionally, if the comment is threatening or creepy make sure to report or flag the comment to the blogger team.
5. What can you do to prevent anonymous commenters? Anonymous commenters can be prevented a few different ways to your preference. Under your blogger settings, click on 'comments' where you may customize whether you allow anyone to comment, only users with a blog, or only users who provide a name. I know when I first started my blog I made it so only blog users could comment and I found that it made me feel better that when I clicked to see my comments I wouldn't see anything negative pop up.
6. What can you as a blogger do to stop mean anonymous commenters? Stand up and speak out. We bloggers as a whole can stand up and stop the hate, negativity, and fear that goes along with anonymous commenters. By supporting each other with kindness, consoling each other when it comes to mean comments, and talking on our blogs about strength in not submitting to what mean anons want (to make us feel bad) we all can defeat those who want to bring us down.
Hope this perhaps helped you all is some way, shape or form. If you have anything that you all use to deal with anonymous commenters, let me know!
With much love, Lauren.
P.S. Speaking of replying to anonymous commenters. To the anon who asked the other day my view on sex, here is my anwser; ❤
