Facebooking Is A 2-Way Street: Be Prepared

Facebook Pages are interactive. This is an important point and one that is true for every campaign, nonprofit, small business, etc.: when you create a Facebook Page, you are creating a public forum for feedback- both positive and negative. This may seem obvious, but many, many small businesses, campaigns, and organizations alike start their Facebook Pages with high hopes for receiving positive feedback and little to no plans for dealing with the negative feedback that is sure to come.

It’s very easy to take feedback on our Facebook Pages when it’s positive. We don’t worry too much about how we will moderate comments when they are all praising our candidate, product, or mission.  However, you need to be prepared now to accept and engage with feedback in any and every form.  Every Page administrator should have a plan ready that will allow them to engage with feedback, while also controlling the message and moderating comments.

A few months ago, an animal rights group here in NC organized an online campaign where they posted hundreds of messages on Gov. Perdue’s Facebook Page Wall. The goal of the campaign was clearly to bring attention to the issue of animal abuse across North Carolina and they succeeded.

It also became evident that the Governor’s communications team was unprepared for the deluge of unsolicited and off-topic comments they were receiving. The Facebook Page administrator responded with a status update saying that the Governor’s Office was “listening” to the activists, but there was little they could do to address their concerns. Ironically, the administrator then immediately removed posting abilities from the wall. Thus at the same time they said they were listening to concerned constituents, they removed the medium by which the activists were communicating!

Did the Governor’s team have the right to control the message on their Page? Yes, of course. But it was unfortunate that they chose to do so without expressly giving the activists another medium. It might have been a better choice to provide the activists with an open thread of sorts where they could continue posting their message. This would have the added benefit for the animal rights group of having their posts show up in the newsfeed where many more people would see it.

I’m not sharing this example to disparage the Governor or her communications staff. Rather I share it because I know there will come a day when every Page administrator will face the challenge of appropriately dealing with unsolicited and unwanted feedback. Take the time now to set your strategy for dealing with unwanted or unsolicited feedback and save yourself the stress later.

As a general rule of thumb, your Facebook Page is yours and you have the right to remove any information that you feel is deliberately misleading, offensive, or in poor taste. However, does this mean you should remove comments asking questions or registering complaints about your products or candidacy? No, I don’t think that’s a good idea and it really wouldn’t be in the spirit of the social networking community.

If you find that you need to address negative feedback, here are a few steps you could take:

1. If your page is on a controversial issue or product, you may want to include an “etiquette box” on your wall detailing your right to remove any posts that are offensive or derogatory in nature.

2. When you delete a comment, send that person a message explaining why you had to delete their comment while also encouraging them to continue participating in the discussion.

3. When people ask questions, be sure to respond to their questions in the same thread with a link back to your site for more information.

Most importantly, don’t let the fear of unwanted feedback keep you from creating a Facebook Page. You may be missing a great opportunity to advertise your business and engage your most loyal customers. The best advice I can give you for moderating your Facebook Page is, “Go with the flow.” Keep in mind that your Facebook Page is your space and a reflection of your business on Facebook, but also remember that you won’t be able to control what other people write or say about your product.

As always, if you need help with your social networking strategy, contact me today!