Five ways to avoid sparking a social media bushfire

Don't act too corporate against negative posts on social networks

I was recently asked by a PR person working for an oil company about the best way to prevent bloggers posting inappropriate comments on their social network pages.

The company is worried that it can’t control what is being said about it - a major management challenge for many brands today.

Here is my response... It's a set of practical changes to make which often need a change in mindset rather than updates to the social governance policy, although it's worth looking at that too.

The five ways to avoid sparking a social media bushfire

For social networks to flourish they have to be open, transparent and honest so, inevitably, you will get negative comments. When you do, there are ways to respond, and resources you need to have in place, to best handle the situation to your advantage:

1.  Act on and respond positively to fair criticism - If the comments are fair then surely you need to be aware of the issue and act on the comment to remedy the situation. When you deal with valid negative comments or even misperceptions, it’s important not to respond in an official corporate tone. You are dealing with individuals who need to be acknowledged and handled with respect and, in the case of social networks, in a conversational manner.
2. Ensure social media is adequately resourced - As social networkers operate in a real-time interactive ecosystem, you have to be resourced to operate in this environment. Delays in responding, if a response is required, can cause further frustration and potentially lead to a social media bushfire of negative posts.
3. Listen to the community response to unjustified comments - If the posts are unfair, other online community members are likely to shout them down without you having to do anything.  So, if you feel the comments are unjustified, listen carefully to what happens - you may well find some advocates this way, who you can go on to support and nurture.
4. Don’t be corporate in a social space - Don’t go down the route of firms like McDonalds. McDonalds is building a network of fans by gratuitously rewarding them to post positive comments under a scheme called Family Arches. This misguided strategy will surely lead to yet and another backlash for McDonalds because its approach undermines all the tacit rules of social networks.
5.  Be wary of ‘Trolls’ – These people are intent on making unjustified negative comments and ‘social media stalking’ companies or individuals. Ignore them - responding only gives them credibility and great satisfaction! There are online laws for these people and, if they are guilty of slander and harassment, they can be legally managed.

Strategies and resources to support an effective social media presence

The issue is most companies underestimate the resources required to manage their social media operations. The necessary resources include conversation and community management, moderation and good content generation. Start by benchmarking your social media capabilities across different business competencies.

If a company sets up social network pages without a plan, skills or resources, it is leaving itself open to a wide range of issues. Therefore, formulate a strategy with the appropriate budget, resources and skills and, importantly, ensure your board level directors understand it and are bought into it.

Key strategies include:

• Defining your ‘tone of voice
• Change the business culture
• Adopting an employee code of conduct and governance
• Creating a ‘crisis management’ procedure

If you begin to play around with social media without a plan you are likely to run into trouble. Companies adopting social media need to undergo cultural change, transitioning to the new paradigm where consumers, shareholders and employees have more influence over brand or service reputation.

Trying to suppress this intrinsic aspect of creating a social media presence will cause a backlash – and we have all seen plenty of examples.