Learn to Handle Criticism on Instagram: Methods to Deal with Negative Feedback

The success on Instagram is measured in different ways: it’s the great promotion plan you make, the audience you attract, and the engagement you receive. Another proof is how you get along with those who remain active on your account, including in sketchy situations and criticism. So, it may be an asset to learn tried-and-tested techniques to become a master of words. And also find out how tools like the Instagram Story Viewer can come in handy for pursuing this goal.

---

What is Criticism and Its Forms?

To put it simple, criticism is a judgment or disapproval of someone, based on the person’s actions.

Negative comments on social media may hit the creator badly. Yet, in some cases, user attacks can be used to improve specific things of your Instagram profile or content.

There are three common types of adverse responses on social media:

• Constructive criticism. Those comments can be written in either a negative style or a more polite one. The main thing here is that people, writing this, are pointing out certain aspects that they don’t like. If you receive several messages like this from different users, you’d better seriously consider improving the pain points.
• Destructive criticism. Lack of feedback is a big difference from the mentioned above. These are just negative responses to your content without a clear understanding of what exactly triggered it.
• Irrelevant criticism. These are the messages that seem completely out of place and rather unacceptable. They are usually aimed at a creator to get an emotional response. A person who writes such comments is nothing but an Internet troll.

---

Methods for Dealing with Bad Responses

Even if you have never found yourself drawn into a tough conversation, it doesn’t mean it won’t happen in the future. The perfect answer or a right solution in case of managing negative feedback most often comes too late when the finest moment is already missed. Or worse, you may have failed to react smartly. So, it’s better to be prepared and know right away what is the best way to alleviate the situation and preserve your reputation. 

Check out the key points to deal with unpleasant reactions:

• Look into a negative message. Determine the form of the criticism. If users point on some elements that bother them, then let them know their feedback is heard. Take action to improve the aspects that are causing problems. If information provided is not enough to define  the issue, respectfully ask for more details. Suggest switching to DM, if a deep conversation is needed. It shows that you care about your reputation.
• Don’t delete bad responses. It’s a straightforward option that can just as easily do more harm to your profile. The user whose comment was deleted without a reply can write another and more angry message. If the audiences see that you are polishing out a comments section, it won’t do any good and will undermine page trust. Don’t go this path, except in one case, we talk below.
• Be less emotional and more professional. Try to leave your emotions behind and stay calm. Act like a pro when you write an answer. This means no backlash, aggressive defending, or blaming since  it’s a straight ticket to the area of bad account perception. You can also check the article about techniques of polite communications.
• Don’t wait too long. Once you see something goes wrong, take time to think it through. There is no reason to rush into an answer. However, putting things out for weeks is not a poor solution either. A break of up to 24 hours is an acceptable pace.
• Be clear. Your replies must be to the point. Don’t distract yourself with other things or write manuscripts instead. Make sure your text is structured, yet concise.
• Acknowledge the issue. You should strive for the ideal, but mistakes are common on the way to it. In case the criticism is justified, put your pride aside and admit the problem. Apologize, state the reason, and decide on what to change to avoid this in the future.
• Don’t take things too personally. You can get along very nicely with all of your subscribers and pass on your vibe to new ones. But that still won’t eliminate the chance that at some point you may face resistance to the topics covered. Remember that you can’t win everyone’s approval, so don’t take it close to your heart. Focus on positive engagement you already have.
• Create templates. It might be worth thinking about what could cause any negativity towards your profile. Having several scripts help manage the conversation. Diversify the base as you certainly can’t use one and the same all over again.
• Disable trolls. This is the only case when it’s better to delete the comment. You can’t leave such content to the public eye. And definitely you’ll be able to find a more productive way to spend your time than arguing with that kind of user. You may also set up hidden words in your account settings to prevent offensive messages in time to come.

With the tips above, the few main takeaways can be drawn:

• Listen to your audience who is reasonable in judgments. Ignoring constructive criticism is never a way out.  So, the best you can do is to use these unpleasant responses to work further profile improvement.
• Communicate calmly and professionally when dealing with negative messages. Ask users to be more specific and point out aspects they don’t like. Show that the quality of your profile is important to you.

If you come across completely inappropriate criticism that has nothing to do with your account and is simply meant to hurt your feelings, pass it over.

---

How to Maintain Your Reputation on Instagram?

Sometimes a smart reaction to unfriendly comments may not be enough to solve all issues. Your subscribers can see and follow the whole situation. Thus, you may need to make an additional post to describe the current status and remove any concern your followers may have about you. Stories format suits well for that.

The proper quality is implied, don’t upload the post thoughtlessly. If necessary, visit Instagram profiles of other users and check their Stories. There is a chance that  you will see and put to work some tricks.  Since there are instruments such as the public Instagram Story Viewer, you shouldn’t be afraid to leave any trace. For example, a Toolzu service provides users with the anonymous, online, and free IG Story Viewer. To watch Instagram Stories incognito, simply enter the username into the search bar.

---

Conclusion

Criticism is a reaction that no one on social media prefers to meet. However, it happens, and knowing how to deal with negative feedback is crucial. Yet, handling bad comments is not the only way to save your authority. If managed right, you can earn more trust and recognition from subscribers.