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What do you do when social media backfires?
Posted on September 1st, 2009 3 commentsGreat companies, agencies and respected people have all been victims of social media backlash. While it seems more poignant and more rapid, how does negativity on social media differ from other bad press?
In all honesty, it doesn’t.
Pretend I am Jane Doe who has just had an awful experience with Brand XYZ. In the days before microblogs like Twitter, I would complain to any friend or family member that lent me their ear. These people, if they agree with me, might tell their friends my saga–continuing the cycle of bad publicity.
The difference is reach. Do I reach the same amount of people by telling my friends in person or via a 140-character tweet? I would argue that while a tweet might reach more people, a one-on-one rant results in worse publicity. Without a live audience, I can use metaphors, relate it to a previous experience, and basically complain to my heart’s content.
So which is worse, a tweet with a broader reach or an emphatic personal condemnation?
Either way, brands and businesses do have to be afraid of taking flak on social media. It actually presents an opportunity to make changes and interact with disgruntled consumers. If they’re not happy, figure out why and show that you care. You would do the same with an annoyed consumer in your store or on a customer service call.
3 responses to “What do you do when social media backfires?”
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Geary,
If you put aside the big crisis that have been and still are highly publicized but are not quite that frequent, I would probably venture to say that the twitter/personal way evens out more or less.
When I started my career, many many years ago, the word at the company I used to work was that a disgruntled customer will tell his bad experience to on an average of 29 people (vs 7 for a happy experience..tells you a lot about the need to vent our negative emotions btw). Recent studies have showed that even with stagering numbers of followers, you can’t have more than high tens online true relationships..i.e: people who will hear you. With the fact that you can’t really pass all the non verbal stuff in a tweet, the 29 vs the may be 70-80 probably evens out. -
What do you do when social media backfires? http://bit.ly/kFs1w
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
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I think rather than considering it a backfire, this is one of the best advantages of a social community. XYZ company can take it as an opportunity to fix a problem and offer a solution in a more efficient and practical way.
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laurent September 1st, 2009 at 16:02