Stephen Pizzuti’s Advice for Dealing With Internet Harassment
My name is Stephen Pizzuti and I have been struggling with a malicious and relentless internet smear campaign. My antagonist has targeted me and my business without justification, and accused me of horrible things that I don’t care to repeat. Notwithstanding, I have learned much from the experience, and would like to share what I have learned publicly, so that you, the reader, might be better equipped, should you ever incur the wrath of an online crazy-maker, as I have.
Rule #1: Disengage! Do Not Fee The Trolls
If you notice a false complaint filed against you or your business, it is OK to post a compelling rebuttal immediately, but keep it humble. The attacks against you are a type of psychological warfare; you will win or lose the hearts of your clients, depending on how you respond. NOTE: Only post one rebuttal, otherwise the page will gain higher Google rankings. You can show the reader that the absence of subsequent responses is not proof of guilt, by opening your one-time response with something like the following:
“I will not engage in an ongoing flame-war on this website, it will only stir up further contempt by my stalker (or other appropriate description). But I do respectful submit this one-time response to my accuser”
Rule #2: Follow these basic rules if you do respond:
- DO NOT respond to old posts (necroposting), doing so will only spike their Google ranking, Google loves controversy, and gives extra weight to ongoing discussions. Just let old posts die.
- DO NOT be too defensive, remember Shakespeare: “The lady doth protest too much, methinks” which is a quote from the 1599/1600 play Hamlet. It has been used as a figure of speech, in various phrasings, to describe someone’s too frequent and vehement attempts to convince others of some matter, thereby making themselves appear defensive, and insincere.
- DO NOT name your antagonist. Use third person pronouns such as “he” or “she”. Otherwise, if you use their name or business name, you will only enrage them further. More importantly, it looks trashy and vindictive to the readers. Restraint = Class.
- DO post more positive material about you or your business, sometimes the only cure for bad speech, is more speech. If you don’t take control of Google search results for your name, someone else will, and it will end badly if he/she doesn’t like you. If you so not have much in the way of relevant, well written content about yourself, then Google has no choice but to rank the material provided by others, some of who may not like you.
Rule #3: Get Free Help with DIY guides to fixing your online reputation problems
- A team of professional online reputation management experts have graciously surrendered their wisdom and techniques, on this non-profit website Defamation911.org
- That same team maintains a free tip blog at www.blog.page1.me
- Their Facebook pages is https://www.facebook.com/defamation911/
- Their LinkedIn Page is Defamation 911 on Linkedin
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