I got trolled on Substack

Here's what I learned

This week I got trolled by a guy on Substack. Or maybe it wasn’t a guy but a bot. Either way, he/it taught me a valuable lesson.

[Hi, I’m Karen, I write this free newsletter to share what I’ve learned in my two years on Substack, where I’ve grown my paid publication to $13K. Thanks for being here.]

In this post, I’ll share 3 things I learned from being trolled, something which actually left me feeling a bit shakey and weird. But first, a quick thought from someone who’s been around the (internet) block a few times:

Having more readers means exposing yourself to not-nice behavior.

For me, I’m happy to take the risk of being trolled if it comes with more readers. I’m a tough old bird, as we say in Oztralia. For you, though? I don’t know. If you’re new to online writing, you should know that you will cross paths with dickheads when your Substack gets big.

What I learned from the troll (don’t worry, it’s good 😊)

My troll guy/bot was SO DAMN smart with the way he delivered his nasty comment. Kudos to the strategy, if not the execution. Let’s unpack it.

The troll was a subscriber to my free newsletter. When he received an email that didn’t resonate with him he made a genius move… He didn’t just quietly unsubscribe like any normal person, he COMMENTED about unsubscribing, without explaining why, leaving a comment for my subscribers to see, right there in the post thread.

But he didn’t ONLY comment on the post, he also (double genius) created a Substack Note about his unsubscribe. The Note is for everyone in his extended network to see. It was more detailed than his comment, and more inflammatory. And because it’s a Note, it will be seen by his extended network, which means more people will see it than will see his original comment.

But wait, there’s even MORE genius-ness in his strategy. He didn’t just create a Note saying how much he dislikes people* like me. He did something even smarter. He added a link to the Note to his post comment.

This is so smart. By commenting on my post directly, he guaranteed that I would see it and many of my readers would also see it, for (perhaps) years to come. By including the Note link and a cryptic statement, he encourages readers to click through from my post to his Note. Once a reader is viewing him on Notes, they can easily follow or subscribe to him.

It’s smart. By choosing to loudly complain before unsubscribing, and directing readers to his Note, the troll can get more attention, and potentially new readers, than he would have got if he had quietly unsubscribed. Genius.

Copy the strategy, but execute differently

I’ll be using the troll’s strategy in future. Nope, I won’t be making misogynistic slurs about my fellow writers in a public forum (FFS dude). Instead, I’ll be occasionally adding Note-links to comments so that other readers might click through and check out what I have to say on Notes.

This will increase exposure, and let more people know who I am and what I write about.

Here’s the strategy again:

1. Make a Note that your whole network will see

   

   Make a note and copy its link to your clipboard

2. Get the Note’s link by copying the URL from browser address bar when the Note is open.

3. Comment on a post with something slightly cryptic or mysterious, asking readers to refer to your Note, and adding the Note link.

Paste the note link into a comment, asking people to check out the Note.

It goes without saying that you should do this with kindness, and NOT in the way that my troll did.

Final thoughts

Was I too click-baity when I said I was trolled? Maybe. The guy’s Note wasn’t really that nasty. But it still felt unpleasant to read. Especially because it is untrue.

I have resisted the urge to share links to his comment and Note because frankly this person should not get more attention from this.

I’m just happy we could all learn a new strategy from him. Thanks!

That’s it for this week. Have a great weekend.

Karen

*not “people”, but women. He’s tearing down women writers specifically. Good one, mate.

Cover image: Mark König on Unsplash