How to Handle Online Trolls (Turn Hate Into Personal and Business Traffic)

Everyone fears trolls. But what if they're secretly useful and helping you grow?

You probably just said to yourself, "oh really? I thought trolling is harmful to mental health and has no use."

Most people waste time reacting to negativity, but here's the truth no one tells you, which I'm about to. Pay attention, because this is genuinely going to liberate you from your fear of online trolls.

Cyberbullying isn't just a personal tragedy. It's a documented public health crisis. Research published in the Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, drawing on CDC data, found that victims of cyberbullying face roughly double the risk of suicidal thoughts and attempts compared to people who aren't targeted. That's not a scare tactic. That's peer-reviewed research.

So let's be clear about something before we go any further. Online harassment is a real and serious problem, and nothing in this post is meant to minimize that. But there's a separate, much narrower question worth asking if you're a business owner, creator, or public-facing brand: what do you do with the trolls in your comment section who aren't threatening anyone, but just trying to provoke a reaction out of you?

Gary Vaynerchuk has talked publicly about this exact distinction for years. Rather than engaging trolls or getting defensive, he treats negative comments on his content as free reach. Every troll who leaves an inflammatory comment on one of his posts pulls their own followers into the conversation, and Vaynerchuk lets his actual content and value do the converting from there. He's built part of his personal brand on staying visibly unbothered while the algorithm quietly rewards the engagement trolls generate.

That's the mindset shift this post is actually about.

The first thing you need to understand is that attention is a currency. Just like actual money, if you spend it wisely, it's going to yield dividends.

Many people accidentally amplify trolls by complaining publicly or trying to fight back. But trolls thrive on attention, not accuracy. Giving them a reaction is giving them power, full stop.

And if you're a public figure or a micro-influencer, your fans probably outnumber your trolls, you're just not looking. For every troll you have, there are people who genuinely love what you do. Why fix your attention on the small minority who don't? Your mental space should serve your goals, not random negativity you didn't ask for.

You should also be fully aware that not all opinions matter. Whatever opinions you're getting online are a case of two things fighting for attention: noise versus truth.

If it's not constructive, honest criticism of your integrity or your actual results, it's just noise. Don't let meaningless words contaminate your personal brand or steal your peace. Your mental health should always come first.

There is something I call "the power of silence," and it's as old as day in every aspect of our lives.

Its value is even more apparent now that we're in the fast-paced world of social media. Those who understand this have a head start over those who don't, and that's why the biggest, most respected influencers rarely respond to trolls.

Why? Because they're full, not empty. Empty vessels make the most noise, but silence is dominance. It signals confidence, not weakness.

Rihanna is a clear example of this in action. She's spoken openly about tuning out internet criticism for years, choosing not to respond to the noise while building Fenty Beauty into a billion-dollar brand. Her silence toward trolls has never read as weakness. If anything, it's part of what makes her feel untouchable.

If you've always dreamed of becoming a well-known individual, or even aiming higher toward becoming a global brand, you should be prepared for what's coming, because the honest truth is that growth attracts trolls.

The moment you get bigger or more influential, trolls show up automatically. It's not personal, it's just a byproduct of visibility. But here's the part most people miss: trolls only grow when you help them spread. Stop carrying their message forward with your own reach.

And this is where it gets interesting.

Flip the script, because trolls bring traffic, so convert it. Trolls bring curiosity. Curiosity brings traffic. Use their noise as lead generation. Let them attract people to your profile and your page, and let your actual value convert that traffic into paying customers and loyal followers. Did you just see that?

MrBeast has talked about this dynamic openly too. Controversy and criticism around his videos consistently drive massive additional views, since people who show up to criticize still watch the content, still comment, and often still end up subscribing. He's never had to chase trolls to benefit from this. The algorithm and the curiosity do it for him.

Trolls are not the enemy

Misplaced attention is. The moment you stop feeding negativity, you regain control of your brand, your emotions, and your influence.

Remember, trolls don't have reach until you hand them your platform's reach by reacting. If you're ill-prepared or ill-advised, they will genuinely bring you down. But if you're positioned correctly, their noise brings people in, and your value keeps them, and turns some of them into real revenue.

Don't be ignorant. Be well positioned. Leverage trolls to grow your brand on purpose.

If this resonated, How to Win Business Deals and a Man's Heart covers a closely related idea, since staying unbothered by trolls is really just another form of the same unshakable confidence that comes from exposure and repetition.