Responding to Online Negativity: A Guide for Libraries

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Negative feedback and online incivility can demoralize staff and destroy goodwill with patrons. Handling it is a major challenge—do you ignore it? Do you respond? And if you do, how do you respond in a way that avoids escalating the issue? It can be overwhelming to deal with toxic behavior online, but there are strategies library staff can use to help themselves and their patrons.

In this webinar, you’ll examine the most common kinds of negative online behavior and the best methods for dealing with them. You’ll also learn what differentiates an online troll from other kinds of negative users and what to do if you encounter one. Next time you encounter a negative e-mail, insulting comment, or unfair review, you’ll be prepared!

After participating in this webinar, you will:

  • Have basic strategies for responding to different types of negative online interactions
  • Have a framework for determining when to ignore an online comment and when to engage
  • Know what differentiates a troll from other negative users and how to handle a troll

Laura Solomon, MCIW, MLS is the Library Services Manager for the Ohio Public Library Information Network and a W3C-certified front-end web developer.  She has been doing web development and design for more than twenty years, in both public libraries and as an independent consultant. She specializes in developing with Drupal. She is a 2010 Library Journal Mover & Shaker. She’s written three books about social media and content marketing, specifically for libraries, and speaks nationally on both these and technology-related topics.  As a former children’s librarian, she enjoys bringing the “fun of technology” to audiences and in giving libraries the tools they need to better serve the virtual customer.

This event will be hosted in Zoom. Automatic captions will be enabled for this event. This event will be recorded, and registrants will receive access to the recording within a day after the event ends.

If you have questions or requests regarding accessibility, contact us at ce@ala.org or at 312-280-5100.

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