Five Tips for Handling Negative Social Media Comments

~ Karen J Rieley, M.A.

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When an implication arises that your company may have done something wrong, you can assume that at least for the foreseeable future, the news media will produce stories about the situation. Dealing with traditional media – TV and newspapers primarily – is an important function of public relations. Equally important, however, is dealing with social media. Access to social media gives individuals the opportunity to easily and broadly express opinions to what they hear in the media.

As PR practitioners, we should expect that some of these comments will not be positive. Competitors and disgruntled customers, vendors and former employees may use social media as their opportunity to get back at our company or further their own interests.

Your company needs to have a united response to comments, whether the responses are positive or negative, right or wrong. The company’s ability to come out of this critical time strong and capable of continuing to provide its products or services will be affected by its leaders’ and, in fact, all levels of employees’ ability to come to common agreement about how negative comments will be handled. Consider these five ways to handle negative social media comments:

  1. Deciding whether to respond to a negative comment about our business depends greatly on where the comment appeared and how many of our current and potential customers are likely to be influenced by the comment. For example, negative comments on a news medium’s Facebook page generally fade away quickly, because most people don’t read them to begin with and because current news stories are quickly replaced by more and more news. Monitoring whether any of those negative comments are shared out is important, however, because once they appear on a personal Facebook page, friends of that page will read the comment and respond to it and/or share it out to their friends. People do have a tendency to distrust or question what appears in the media; on the other hand, they tend to trust and are influenced heavily by their friends’ opinions.
  2. Often, it is best to simply keep our cool and not respond to negative comments. Responding just keeps the comment string alive and, in reality, if someone is still disgruntled even after our business has tried to rectify the situation, there is little we can do to change the person’s mind. If we feel we need to respond, we should state the facts of the case without placing any blame on the other person (even if it was their fault).
  3. If we read a negative comment that we feel may be justified, we should respond by giving the person an opportunity to communicate offline with us, to see if we can rectify the situation. If we are able to come to a positive resolution, we may ask the person to post a positive comment about how the company worked to resolve the issue.
  4. We do need to respond – politely and has succinctly as possible – to correct misinformation in a comment; for example, a misconception that we no longer offer a service that, in fact, we still do. If the incorrect information about how bad our company is continues to be spread, we may need to consider lawsuit for slander, libel or defamation of character.
  5. Any response we make should come from one person in the company to ensure that we have a unified message. Make sure all employees know that if they read a negative comment anywhere, they should email this designated person with a link to where to find the comment. The designated person will need to make the decision whether and how to respond.

The strength of a company never shows stronger than during a crisis. Be very careful , in asking employees to support the company by monitoring but not engaging in social media comments, that you are telling them the truth about the situation that has caused the crisis as you best know it at the time. This is a watershed moment when your company can either emerge stronger by working together or in chaos if your employees feel they have been kept in the dark or told lies. Continue to give them reasons to be proud of the company for which they work, even in the face of negativity.

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Published by Karen J Rieley, M.A.

I am passionate about making a difference in life while I can. My passion plays out in my career as a seasoned, results-oriented PR, writing and fund-raising professional with extensive experience and proven success in the nonprofit sector, specifically in strategic planning, brand development and PR campaigns. I have used my skills to help an array of sectors including corporate, arts, social services, faith-based and education. I am also a fanatical reader and passionate about writing and editing. I am a proven writer and editor of many genres including magazines, newsletters, news releases, websites, advertisements, direct mail solicitations, grants, speeches, presentations, research, crisis communications and academic papers. I have turned a lifelong passion for baking, especially cookies into a business – KR Homemade Cookies and more - to help me in my latest endeavor – baking cookies to be given to families who come to St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in the Springfield neighborhood of Jacksonville, Fla., for help with food. Baking soothes my soul, and I hope that my cookies soothe the souls of those who need so much. I think of the children eating my cookies as I bake them and hope they are smiling.

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