R U OK?

Interacting with people is a constant in most of our day-to-day lives. Whether our interactions are face-to-face conversations, DM-ing on your favourite social media platform, or making a (sometimes dreaded) phone call. In this digital age, we are truly more connected than ever! While this is beneficial for folks like us (a digital marketing agency), it also has its drawbacks.

As we all know, not all conversations are meaningful or positive. We’ve all hopefully been taught how to respect each other online as we would on the street or while we wait in line at our favourite coffee spot. Screens, big or small, offer a glass-encased shield to give negative commentators (“Keyboard Warriors”, “Trolls” name them what you will) an extra degree of separation between themselves and the people they are affecting. This shield can also be used as a mask to hide our true feelings behind our Instagram profile, emoji’s and enthusiastic punctuation! Life isn’t always as it is portrayed online and it’s important to remember that everyone experiences ups and downs.

A question we commonly get asked as digital marketers is how to tackle trolls and negative comments. Whether it’s a Google review, a comment on a social post, or even a dislike on your latest YouTube masterpiece - you can’t please one hundred per cent of people one hundred per cent of the time (trust us - we’ve tried!). 

While it’s always guaranteed to leave a bad taste in your mouth, it’s important to be proactive in the way that you handle unhappy customers. We believe the best practice is to respond to the review or comment quickly, be apologetic and show empathy. If the case escalates (it’s rare, but it happens), offer to converse with them privately through direct messages and aim to get them back onside, or worst-case scenario, be the bigger person and agree to disagree, thank them for the time they have spent bringing attention to their issue in a professional tone and move on.

Think of it as a way to get an understanding of your customers, it may even be an opportunity to improve your product or service (we love the glass-half-full kind of thinking!). It’s important to remember this commentary is not a reflection of you as a person, and to try your best not to take it to heart - plus, you never know what these individuals have going on behind closed doors, influencing both their emotions and actions.

This R U OK Day, be sure to have a look around at the people in your life, or even total strangers, and inspire a meaningful conversation, or simply just ask “R U OK?”. This is a day to embrace responding to the generic ‘how you goin’ truthfully, whether this is an open conversation or a simple emoji. Here are R U OK’s four steps to have a conversation that could change a life:

If you’re struggling, and want to speak with a trusted professional, here are some resources in Launceston:

Synapse Psychology | 6364 3880

Launceston Head to Health | 1800 424 578

Headspace | 6335 3100

Healthy Mind Centre | 6388 9229

Launceston Psychology Clinic | 6709 8333

The Bubble Launceston | 6724 3063

Not a Launcestonian? Here are some highly-regarded national helplines:

Lifeline | 13 11 14

Beyond Blue | 1300 22 4636

Suicide Call Back Service | 1300 659 467