The Community Response: How to Handle Influx of Feedback

YouTube is a vibrant place of open expression, unbridled creativity, and passionate people. It is also the world's largest focus group; post a video and you're likely to hear what people think about it instantly, through comments and video responses.

Any user who takes the time to comment intelligently or positively on your video is likely already a fan of your product -- or a budding evangelist for you. Show that you're listening by commenting back, posting a video response, or subscribing to their channel.

While our Community Guidelines spell it out simply--be respectful--unkind comments can make their way to your video. For unsuspecting users or brands, this can be unsettling.

Here are some tips on dealing with negative comments:

• Don't over-react. Knee-jerk responses like pulling down your videos or turning off comments send the message that you're not open to feedback or that you're not comfortable in this dynamic environment.

• Moderate comments on your video. Comments will not appear on the video's watch page until you approve them. To do this, go to "My Videos" and click on "Edit" for the video you want to moderate. You can also block users as you moderate comments, if you never want to hear from them again.

• Ignore anyone who's rude. You don't want to let them know that they're getting to you -- or even that you've heard them.

A good example comes from comedian Eugene Mirman, who made a video about all of the, ahem, savory comments he received about his new album. (Warning: video contains some colorful language.) By making light of the words, he's showing how harmless they really are.


Posted by Mia Quagliarello, Community Manager