My name is Yulia, and I'm 37 years old. I've been working as a community manager at Black Caviar Games for about a year now. When my husband got a job in the game industry, I got interested in this field too. I became curious about how things work in the game industry.

It turns out that games are great. And some great people are working in the game industry - smart, friendly, and incredibly creative.

I have ten years of experience in communications. Tech support, crisis management, and call centers have taught me to negotiate and find common ground with all kinds of people. I also adore social networks and actively use them. Therefore, when I was offered a position in community management, I immediately agreed. All I can say is, I don't regret my decision.

I love working with content. I try to bring in as much interesting content as I can. In particular, I love coming up with topics for posts and subjects for the videos we shoot.

It depends on CM how a brand looks in the eyes of the audience. That's why excellent communication skills are most important. Among them:

• The ability to make and keep acquaintances;
• The ability to remain calm even in the harshest of situations and not to give in to provocations;
• Tenacity and stress-resistance to find common ground with any, even the most aggressive or unpleasant, users;
• Empathy and an understanding of human psychology;
• Sense of humor. It's crucial!

The community manager should also use the company's products or services and understand its qualities and characteristics. Without this, it's hard to understand the specifics of the brand and its audience. You have to be constantly online to come to the aid at any moment. It's particularly relevant in the gaming industry: people can play at any time!

Some employers pay attention to whether or not CM has its social media audience and how big it is. However, there's a double-edged sword here. A famous but inexperienced person may start doing PR, not for the brand but for himself.

A good CM does all of the above. A great one collects feedback, clarifies details, and passes it all on to the brand team. In general - takes care not only of the reputation but also of the clients.

Community managers build a community around a brand or a specific product. They build long-term relationships with customers, listen to their ideas, and then pass them along to their team. A true professional must understand their audience and know what drives them.

In other words, the CM is the bridge between users and the company. Together with the support team, we monitor the mood of the community, work with both negative and positive feedback, and, of course, analyze feedback in the stores to make a list of suggestions for improving the game and pass them to the development department.

Our community management team performs completely different tasks. Some come up with the next masterpiece TikTok videos, some work on interviews or shoot office tours: in general, there is enough to do.

My responsibilities are to increase the activity in the community. I work on the content plan, respond to comments and private messages in our corporate accounts and messengers.

This one tops my chart so far:

Most of the comments and personal messages are about how many fans would love to work as a tester for us. Everyone writes, even little kids. Well, and trolls, of course: no way without them! There have been a lot more trolls in the last year. The crisis, the pandemic, and self-isolation have spawned a wave of frustrated people, who try to cope with stress in this desperate way.

When dealing with these kinds of people, I have a couple of lifehacks.

First, not everyone who seems like a troll is actually a troll. The person may be upset in reality. He's drawing attention to himself, hoping for a quick fix. If that's the case, it's worth paying attention to and sorting out the problem.

Second, I understand that in real life the troll suffers from attention deficit and lack of recognition. The more violent the response, the better for him! Anger, resentment, and other negative emotions are troll food. Ignoring them is their greatest misfortune.

If I understand that the person in front of me is a troll, I will respond to his message. But only once. In this situation, I'm not responding to the troll himself, but rather to other people who will see the response. If I remain silent, it might seem to someone that we are ignoring disgruntled users, which would be bad for the reputation and image of the brand.

The most important thing in this situation is to ignore attempts to drag yourself into a meaningless dialogue. Those who troll for fun will surely lose interest and leave to feed elsewhere. If that doesn't work either, you have to pull out the banhammer. I really don't like doing this, but the rules should still be followed.

We need to change it! Attention, love, and patience are the key to healthy relationships. Run contests, create polls, tell your subscribers about yourself and your work. Make small compensations for technical failures. Any mood can be changed!