[FAQ]

Hello,

I am hoping for some advice. My channel has been growing, and while most of the discussion is positive, I am receiving an increasing number of truly hateful comments and personal attacks—not constructive criticism, but genuine trolls.

It is starting to affect my motivation to create. I want my YouTube channel to be a place for intelligent discussion, but these comments are derailing that. What is the best strategy here? Should I ignore them? Delete and block immediately? I’ve heard that engaging with them can actually make things worse on YouTube.

I am looking for a sustainable strategy that protects both my community and my own mental health. Thank you for your thoughts.

[Jeff Bullas]

Learning to manage this is a necessary skill for any YouTube creator.

Short Answer: The best strategy is a firm “no engagement” policy combined with proactive use of YouTube’s moderation tools. You should hide, block, and filter users and keywords rather than replying to them.

Your primary goal is to control the text format of your comments section to protect your community’s health.

The most effective approach involves managing the text format of your YouTube comments section without directly engaging. Firstly, do not reply to trolls; this only boosts their comment’s engagement and encourages them. Secondly, make aggressive use of the moderation tools YouTube provides by creating a “blocked words” list, which is a custom text format filter that automatically hides comments containing common insults or slurs. Thirdly, the most powerful tool is to “hide user from channel,” which makes all of their past and future comments invisible to everyone except them, effectively removing them from your community without notifying them. By focusing on filtering and hiding these negative text formats rather than responding to them, you maintain control and protect your own mental energy.

Cheers,

Jeff

[Author]

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