Interactive Insights Group

If your organization is participating in social media through blogs, Twitter and other social networks –and even if you’re not — it’s only a matter of time before someone rants, makes a negative comment or expresses criticism about some aspect of what you’ve said or done or stand for.

Sometimes the comments demand a response.  Other times, it’s better to ignore them.  Determining when and how to respond to these negative comments is something that every organization wrestles with on a regular basis.

We’ve pulled together this collection of articles that address various aspects of how to react to negative comments and reactions on the social web.   Let us know if there are any we’ve missed.

• HOW TO: Deal With Negative Feedback in Social Media
  From Mashable: Quick guide with advice on how to handle feedback on social media – from identifying the type of feedback (constructive, trolling, etc.) to deciding how to react.
• How Do You Handle Feedback?
  From Econsultancy: Patricio Robles reviews a list of considerations in determining how to handle feedback you get online – from “who the source is” to “the tone in which the feedback is provided” and more.
• How to Deal with the Crazy, Nutso Bloggers
  From SmartBlog On Social Media: Short good post from Andy Sernovitz on what to do when you enter not reasonable complaints online but unfounded defamation from professional hater and crazies.
• Moldy Tweets: Takea Deep breath Before Responding to Negativity
  From E-Consultancy: A cautionary tale about thinking (and taking a deep breath) before you respond to negative comments online.
• Online Reputation Management: How to Handle Negative Publicity
  From Sitepoint: Alyssa Gregory offers up advice on how to gauge the risk of negative publicity you might get online and determine how best to handle it.
• 8 Tips for Responding to Negative Comments Online
  From Social Trending: Very good rundown of advice for responding to negative attacks online from “respecting their right to have their own opinion” to “attacking the issue not the person” to “not getting lost in trivialities” and more.
• How Companies Should Respond To Negative Reviews
  From Outspoken Media: A guide to determining when to respond to bad reviews on sites like Yelp (do respond when you genuinely need to make amends or if someone is mistaking the facts for example) – as well as tips on how to communicate for those times when you do respond.
• Why You Should Embrace Negative Press
  From Shoemoney: Here Jeremy Shoemaker argues and provides reasons for why you should embrace and not fear negative reactions online.
• Help for the Yelped
  From Money Magazine: The Do’s and Don’ts of responding to negative consumer comments on Yelp.
• 6 Ways to Cope with Negative Comments
  From iLibrarian: Suggestions for dealing with the negative reactions you might find online from “moderating with discretion” to “keeping you cool” to “being yourself” and more.
• How to Deal with Negative Comments On Your Blog
  From Problogger: Guest blogger Gala Darling from iCiNG adeptly tackles the question of how to handle negative emails on your blog – from not feeding the trolls to responding with compassion to reader’s legitimate concerns.
• Should You Respond to Comments via Email or in Comments?
  From Problogger: Advice on how to best respond to comments on your blog.
• Ignore it and it’ll Go Away? – Responding to Criticism Part 2
  From Problogger: Discussion of the merits of ignoring the criticism of others online.
• What to Do when Your Blog is Attacked
  From Problogger: Advice on how to handle attacks from others in social media. Excellent advice from “thickening your skin” to “establishing boundaries” to “stepping away from the computer for a moment” to “not getting personal” and more.
• Responding to Online Criticism
  From Social Signal: Here provides a model case study example of how to respond to negative criticism from TripIt – with an analysis of what they did right.
• Responding to criticism
  SmartBlog On Social Media: Advice from Andy Sernovitz about responding to negative work of mouth.
• Why Is Your Business Afraid of Negative Blog Posts?
  Search Engine Guide Blog: How you can use commenting to respond to negative comments about you in a blog post.
• How To Deal With Negative Comments About You On Twitter
  From John Haydon: Solid advice on how to deal with negative comments others make about you or your organization on Twitter.
• How To Deal With Negative Comments
  From Successful Blog: Great tips from Liz Strauss on how to handle negative comments.
• Mean Spirited Comments and Blogging
  From Lorelle on WordPress: Tips on how to respond to a commenter who is not just negative but mean-spirited.
• Handling Negative Comments On Your Blog Post
  From Chris Brogan’s Blog: Guest poster Jason Alba on five things to consider when you get a negative comment on your blog.
• When to Respond to Negative Buzz
  From eMarketer: Interview with Denise Zimmerman President of NetPlus Marketing on considerations and options for retailers in responding to negative buzz and reviews on social media sites.
• Defeating the Dark Side of Social Networking
  From Business Week: Outlines 6 sets of actions brands should take to respond to conversations on the web.
• Greenpeace vs. Nestle: How to Make Sure Your Facebook Page Doesn’t Become a PR trojan horse
  From The BrandBuilder Blog: Oliver Blanchard does a great job gleaning lessons from the recent Nestle/Greenpeace social media confrontation.
• How To Handle Negative Blog Comments
  From Ignite Social Media: Olivia Hayes provides good advice for handling negative blog comments- from “don’t delete” to “be honest” to “be humble” and more.

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June 9th, 2010

Tags:   advice · Blogging · brands · comments · criticism · howto · negativity · reference · social networks · socialMedia · Twitter1 Comment