Social media is a huge, public conversation platform open for the world. It\u2019s not uncommon to experience complaints, contradictory opinions, and negative or inappropriate posts on your page. There are a few actions you should take when addressing such a post.<\/p>\n
Social media moves very quickly \u2013 and so should you, particularly in times of a crisis or emergency. Critical response time is measured in minutes, not hours and days. Wait longer, and slow reaction time can damage your area\u2019s reputation with your followers.<\/p>\n
If a negative or concerning comment comes up on your channel, capture a screen shot and document it ASAP. This will be helpful in case the issue later escalates or if there is dispute.<\/p>\n
Consider whether you can use this opportunity to clarify and educate your readers with a well-worded, reasonable response \u2013 and remember, it\u2019s not just the original negative poster who will see how you respond but also many of your other community members, as well.<\/p>\n
A prompt, respectful response not only lets you redirect the conversation\u2019s tone and perhaps also slow down or stop a negative comment thread from snowballing, but could even raise your profile in the eyes of your followers. Of course, remember that you don\u2019t have to reply to everything. If the comment is clearly an attack or an effort to pick a fight, let it go.<\/p>\n
Though it might be tempting to remove negative or challenging comments, resist temptation and leave them as they are posted (unless, of course, the post violates MCC\u2019s policies of use or the terms of use of the social media channel itself\u2013 eg. the post contains pornography or obscenity). Deleting such posts can inflame the conversation more, and also call your integrity into question. As well, it can be a violation of the poster\u2019s First Amendment rights.<\/p>\n
In social media management, there is not always a clear answer. It can be a very challenging and chaotic space, and traditional PR techniques often do not work. Be sure to reach out and let your colleagues and leadership know what\u2019s happening. Our Marketing & Web team<\/a> is available to help, too, so don\u2019t hesitate to give a call.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Handling Negative Posts Social media is a huge, public conversation platform open for the world. It\u2019s not uncommon to experience complaints, contradictory opinions, and negative or inappropriate posts on your page. There are a few actions you should take when addressing such a post. Move Quickly Social media moves very quickly \u2013 and so should […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":0,"parent":1032,"menu_order":4,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1055","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/web-standards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1055","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/web-standards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/web-standards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/web-standards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/web-standards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1055"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/web-standards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1055\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2025,"href":"https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/web-standards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1055\/revisions\/2025"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/web-standards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1032"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.monroecc.edu\/web-standards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}