Brisbane bookshop Avid Reader fights back against hundreds of one-star Facebook reviews: Three lessons on fighting trolls

Independent bookseller Avid Reader has staved off a troll attack on Facebook with a series of witty comments and delicious-looking cake, and marketing and social media experts are calling on other SMEs to use the situation to think about their own game plans for unwanted attention on social platforms.

On Monday the Brisbane bookshop re-posted an announcement from author Clementine Ford that she had signed a second book deal and will be starting a project on masculinity in Australia.

Despite Avid thinking this was “brilliant news”, the post enraged some Facebook users, who were angry that the store would promote Ford’s work. What followed was a flood of one-star reviews being left for the business.

Avid Reader social media manager Christopher Currie tells SmartCompany the attacks the business saw were “unprecedented”, but what to do next came naturally, because he knows the values of the business so well.

“I approached it in the same way I approach anything else when representing Avid Reader: we have a strong set of values that we stick to, and these don’t include submitting to the concerted attacks from “Men’s Rights” activists. Basically, if you treat us with disrespect, except the same back,” he says. Read more

Emma Koehn - Smart Company - 28 June 2017