One fear that holds people back from posting on social media is the fear of hostility.

Marc Andreeseen has a policy of one tweet follow, one tweet block.

What he means is that he is quick to follow based on one clever post, but just as quick to unfollow or even block for something he experiences as thoughtless, angry or hateful.

He doesn’t overthink it, he told David Perell on the How I Write podcast.

I didn’t understand that at first, but as I’ve been writing more online I see the wisdom.

It’s the only way to participate while avoiding unnecessary conflict.

The key to adopting that strategy is to understand that you are under no obligation to any of the people who read, follow or comment on your posts.

It’s your post and your feed and that means that you can change your mind about something you write. You can edit or revise a piece, or even delete it.

If people post comments, you have no obligation to respond.

And if you experience those comments as aggressive or hostile, you can delete them and block the people.

It’s your post and your feed and your life.

Social media can connect you with people all over the world.

And it can be enlightening to elicit disagreements or debate issues.

But, just like in real life, you are not obligated to engage.

I compare it to riding the subway in New York City. Sometimes when you board the train there is a hostile person yelling at everyone. People tend to switch cars at the next station. You don’t have to just sit there.

A person commented on one of my posts recently and it felt personal and hostile, so I deleted it. The person posted again, calling me out for deleting the comment and telling me to “Do Better!”

I deleted that comment and blocked the person.

It was not a respectful disagreement or constructive feedback. The person was trolling me.

Whatever fight that person was seeking, I wasn’t interested.

I switched subway cars.

My advice for people who read something that makes them frustrated is don’t respond in haste and anger. Wait until you calm down. Imagine how you would behave in real life.

Warren Buffett said he learned that lesson from the former media mogul Thomas Murphy.

According to David Senra’s Founders podcast, Murphy told Buffett: “You can always tell someone to go to Hell tomorrow.”