Negative Social Media Comments...Let's Talk About It

Yesterday I did a live on YouTube where the viewers and I created a simple greeting card together. If I wasn’t live, this card would have taken 10-15 minutes but because we had a chance to interact with everyone, and share additional helpful tips and suggestions, (oh and we lost power at one point), we were on for about an hour. The comments were flooded with thanks and appreciation for all of us spending time together. So much love came pouring at us!

(You can watch HERE should you feel tempted to get creative!)

Today, when checking my comments in the back end of YouTube Studio, I received the following statement regarding the live replay, “Too much messing around. TOO SLOW!”

Now, we could go down the list of things that make this comment silly like:
- They watched the replay, and could have skipped through it (a luxury the poor live viewers did not have) 😊
- YouTube has a feature where you can watch people’s video at a faster rate
- The option to not watch at all
- It’s in the past and I can’t do anything about it even with their feedback

But we won’t go there. 😉

Okay so why am I spending time and energy talking about this? Because we are going to turn this into a positive reminder for all of us. So, let’s forget this commenter for a minute and talk about something way more important.  

No matter how hard you try to please the masses, you will not succeed. It is an impossible feat. You can take constructive feedback and apply it where possible to better yourself, your relationships, and your business, but you cannot spend an abundant amount of energy worried about what others think or perceive of you. You might not be on social media, exposed to the opinions of sassy strangers, but you may run into the pressure of not wanting to let someone down in your life, or to have them perceive you in a negative way.

I was once a people pleaser and those tendencies led me to overextend myself in ways that were dangerous to my wellbeing. I was trying to control something I just couldn't…other people’s brains. One day, I started making decisions with the consideration of my own heart at the forefront. I wanted to see where that took me. Eventually, I released the perceptions of others and felt a freedom like no other. I want that for all of us.

Try not to put too much energy into what others “might” think about what you’re doing. If you are leading with love, being kind, and following where your heart is taking you, you can’t go wrong.

SO…You might be curious about my response to this comment. Well, I chose the button that says, “Hide user from your channel”. I did what’s called, “Bless and release!” I wish them well, but neither of us need that kind of negativity in our lives. 😊

Mary Polanco, MSSL, RBLP-T
February 25, 2024

Mary Polanco is the founder and CEO of Live and Lead Well, LLC, and is a certified practitioner in Resilience, Emotional Intelligence, and the Work Place Big 5 Profile.  She is also an author, renowned transformational speaker, leadership development trainer, and Doctoral Student in the Psychology of Leadership Program at William James College. Mary's ability to connect with the audience using candor, humor and sheer authenticity enables them to truly self-reflect, creating a safe space for growth to occur. Learn more about how Live and Lead Well  can collaborate with you and your team at https://www.liveandleadwell.org/