The following is taken from a social media handbook I am writing for a museum, it covers the issue of dealing with negative comments on social media websites, this is something which is frequently mentioned to me and i’d be interested in your feedback about the following:
One of the things about social media which worries people is the lack of control, and it is true that within websites like Twitter and Facebook people can be tempted to raise problems or write about disappointing experiences, especially when new mobile phones like the iPhone make it easy to do this on the move.
However it is worth remembering that negative comments and complaints are not new. Social Media just makes these more visible and this has positive and negative connotations.
While in the past a bad experience would be shared with a handful of people, today Social Media magnifies this, reaching countless people.
The positive result of this movement towards sharing our experiences on social media is that we are more aware of how we need to improve as an organisation, allowing us to fix problems which we were never aware of in the past.
This sharing of experiences also benefits us in the many positive reviews, blog posts and comments found written about our organisation in these social spaces.
When it comes to complaints, the experience of organisations similar to our own shows that these are rare and in the vast majority of cases simply acknowledging the problem and reassuring someone that they have been listened to is enough to keep most people happy.
By being responsive when someone has had a negative experience, we can hopefully leave them feeling positive about our organisation. Remember that on most social media platforms your response will also be seen by other users and this generates a perception of us as an organisation which cares about it’s audience.
This knowledge of what is being said about us, and our ability to respond is not control led in the sense that you can control traditional marketing communications, but it does give us an influence with the audiences in the social media space.
If we didn’t participate on these websites, these comments good and bad would still take place, but we would have no voice.
Dealing with negative feedback
From time to time somebody will make a negative comment about our venues on social media websites, in all cases this should needs to be taken seriously and the person should be asked to get in touch via email to discuss their problem further.
In all cases we want to be seen to respond, but then take this conversation on to email or telephone so that we can deal with any complaint in a professional manner.
Occasionally we might encounter someone who wishes to make a lot of noise about their complaint in the publicly visible social media space. On these occasions you need to be careful not to be drawn into conversations online and having given them the opportunity to voice their concerns through email or telephone, they should be left to get bored of complaining.
If someone is being unreasonable, you will normally find that the other members of the community will tell them.
Why would museums choose hide from opinion? By engaging in ’social media’ one must be aware that “media” is the operative term/concept. It is media, media is broadcast. Anything broadcast is subject to being non-private – all broadcasts, (messages cast broadly). If museums do not act on, or at least consider serious criticisms then it only perpetuates the already well established image of insulatory and incestual back-slapping within the mutual admiration society of museums, not to mention the direct farming of questionable talent and “art stars” from institutes of higher learning and and out-of-touch academia, (USA).
Hi no1uknow
I know where your coming from and I have written about this before, I called it the Beta Museum:
http://www.museummarketing.co.uk/2010/02/25/the-beta-museum/
The paragraph’s above are taken from a social media guidebook I am writing for a single venue. They will have one person who will do much of their work on social media and in this case I think it’s appropriate that this quite junior member of staff hands on any complaints to more senior colleagues to deal with away from social media spaces.
That isn’t to say that this museum can’t learn from the complaints, I think they need to. However I feel that both the museum and the individual who has had a bad experience would be better served to discuss this via email or phone rather then on Twitter or Facebook.
I am very happy to be told I am wrong though if anyone disagrees. The reason I am posting these ‘chapters’ on the blog is to benefit from everyone else’s experience to help me create the most useful document possible for this museum.
Thanks
Jim
My own thoughts on this would be to suggest that your handbook could offer a little more in the way of support to the staff member/reader.
Help them appreciate the ease with which people can leave both positive and negative feedback via social media sites. Encourage them not to get too downhearted by negative comments nor to take them personally, but always respond (as you rightly indicate they should). But ought not the first response be on the site itself, rather than referring them away from it?. Sometimes a simple apology or a correction or explanation of a statement is all that is needed, and you do sound more human if you try and resolve it there and then. But more serious issues do, of course, need dealing with off-site as you suggest. If I moan about a company on Twitter I’m always impressed if they respond, encouraging me to contact their helpdesk. (eg Humax, BT, Friends Provident to name a few)
In one narrow area I work in, I often find that other users of a social media platform will (shortly afterwards) either rush to support any criticism, or spring rapidly to my defense. Or both! So it can sometimes be worth waiting a short while before responding to that first complaint, allowing the matter to be discussed by all users on that platform. One can then come in afterwards and respond to all parties, thanking them for expressing such different viewpoints and showing you are listening and acting on them all.
It doesn’t always work though – if the first complainant is so extreme in expressing their views, it can result in both sides using more and more extreme remarks. So the lesson is that it pays to keep on top of what people are saying about you – and deal with it.
Two things, first:
As the old saying goes:
“If your business involves unrepentantly clubbing baby seals maybe you shouldn’t be engaging the public with social media”
I think when you start engaging using social media you have to be keenly aware of your organization’s weak spots. You should be ready to deal with poor or misleading information on the part of the poster but more importantly you should be willing to listen, take feedback and use it to guide and change your organization. If not, then your organization should stay way from social media, you’re only using up time and energy that could be better spent bludgeoning baby seals to death for fabulously soft fur coats.
Secondly, deciding whether or not to risk engaging is one consideration, deciding just how to handle it is another consideration.
At the organization I work at we are working on creating social media guidelines and have mashed together the following six points by looking at what others have put together before us for their social media guidelines.
1. Ignore them or delete the comment
Not usually the best course of action, this should be a last resort. If you are dealing with some one trolling this may be the only course of action.
2. Attempt to pacify them
Bribery with a 50% off coupon may work but it does not solve issue since you are just trying to make the problem go away.
3. Address (but don’t Antagonize them) them
This is always the best course of action. A negative comment can become a great opportunity for your organization to improve itself (see first part above).
4. Contact your boss, PR, etc…
If in doubt as to what to do contact a department supervisor or someone that can give you advice on how to handle the matter.
5. Have a firm policy in place on the blog/Twitter/Facebook site
Having a comment or anti-negativity policy in place.
6. Ban the offending party
Don’t be afraid to ban someone who constantly creates a negative environment. If some one is being a troll, remember it is not their community, it’s yours.
Dear all,
Though I agree with most of your point, Joe Hoover, I just quickly want to share a thought on your point 6. I believe you are right with your argument of banning people (as long as one has an according negative comments policy in place defining terms and conditions for blocking people). What, I think, we should be very careful with though is the definition of “ownership of a community”. Does a museum (or anyone moderating a “like” page on facebook) really “own” the community? As other tribes and communities studies have shown (e.g. Harley Davidson) it should rather be the members who are in control and hold ownership over their interaction. The brand or organisation can and should only be the facilitator or guide; how much an organisation benefits from the dynamic of a community depends on the style and ability to moderate and contribute to the members’ interaction. I am aware that this sounds quite horrifying as the subsequent conclusion is that there is no such thing as brand-owned control. And therefore – clearly – contribution to communities of ones brand / organisation is a matter of business philosophy. Susan Fournier (2009) makes some good points about the myths and realities of communities.
http://www.ara.nl/weblog/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/brand-community.pdf
Practical implementations surely are the big question marks here. A very strong point Fournier makes though is that members are mainly more interested in social interaction with one another than (sadly) with the brand/organisation they have formed their community/interaction around. So I guess a healthy community will shut members that contribute not shared negative comments up themselves.
However – how the organisation reacts to hacklers and negative comments should (I believe) be a question of the corporate philosophy and I consider Jim’s “The BETA-Museum” blog post to be a very good hint in the right direction.
I am currently writing my dissertation on museum marketing and social media, focussing on the members’ motivation of interaction with museums and the implications for museum marketing – just so you don’t wonder why I feel inclined to contribute some thoughts.
Thanks, Sabine