The web is rife with trolls.

Folks whose twisted need for attention is somehow satisfied when negative emotion is directed toward their hollow corner of the internet. The gripe isn’t so much a gripe as a means to a psychological end.

Resorts are no exception. Take Jay Peak for example.

Ricardo
On the 22nd day of December someone decided they wanted to whine about Jay Peak’s snow totals.

Rather than address the issue like a man (or woman, hard to say), this sad creature took to Facebook and EpicSki hiding behind the name, Ricardo Snowmen. Let’s start with the EpicSki thread:

Now, the initial post really doesn’t matter that much, it’s the reply that is the interesting piece. Well, the second reply, because the first replier certainly saw a fiasco coming.

And come it did in the form of over 100 replies, back and forth debate between Ricardo and the world, and lots of running in circles.

Facebook
After EpicSki shut down the troll-laden thread, the animosity toward Jay built up for the next couple weeks until, on January 13, >he went to Jay’s Facebook page (after stopping by Jiminy’s).

This time, here’s how Steve Wright of Jay fame replied.

Guess how many times Ricardo replied after that? Well, last time I checked…none.

Best Way?
I don’t know if this is the best way to deal with trolls, but here’s what I do know.

Trolls don’t care if they are right or wrong, they don’t care if you are right or wrong, they care about getting a reaction. To them, these threads are not a debate, they are the easiest emotional ROI they’ll ever receive.

If I were you, I’d act more like Steve and less like KevinF. Agree (sarcastically) with the enemy and they’ve got no place to go because you didn’t give them what they wanted.

Dale Carnegie would be proud.

About Gregg & SlopeFillers
I've had more first-time visitors lately, so adding a quick "about" section. I started SlopeFillers in 2010 with the simple goal of sharing great resort marketing strategies. Today I run marketing for resort ecommerce and CRM provider Inntopia, my home mountain is the lovely Nordic Valley, and my favorite marketing campaign remains the Ski Utah TV show that sold me on skiing as a kid in the 90s.