Nice for What?

Social Media is a great resource for businesses and owners as much as it is a great source for the “average joe.”  I can’t how many times Instagram and Facebook has made it easy for me to post something about a charity or fundraiser I’m promoting. How easy it is to get a positive message out to people and to showcase the world a glimpse of me.

 

BUT THERE IS A MAJOR PROBLEM WITH SOCIAL MEDIA AS WELL…

Bullies and Trolls who make it their mission to tear down people on sites such as Instagram and Facebook. On www.bullyingstatistics.org it is reported that in 2010 there were 2.7 million children who were being bullied on these social media sites as well as 160,000 children a year that miss school because of bullying. When I attended grade school, I can vividly remember some of my peers teasing me. It hurt and it sucked and many times I would pretend to be sick just not to deal with the ridicule at times. I honestly believe if social media was out around that time that it would have been worse.

 

I’m an active Facebook user as well as Instagram user. I love following my friends as well as celebrities. I’ll be honest though there are some many people who follow celebrities and belittle them. Just recently the well-known famous comedian Kevin Hart and his wife Eniko Hart planned a cowboys and Indians theme birthday for their one-year old son named Kenzo. Some of the comments were harsh and downright rude. Here is a list of some of them:

• Throwin a "Cowboys & Indians" birthday party on "Thanksgiving" celebrates genocide, white supremacy, & slavery. R those the things u @KevinHart4real & @enikohart represent & are teaching to your child? Would it be ok to throw a Master & slave birthday party? nope #nativetwitter
• Playing cowboys & Indians has always been racist. It’s like playing slave & slave owner. Hollywood stereotyped Native Americans and that’s how people still see us unfortunately. Our culture isn’t a costume. Mexican, Black, Middle Eastern, Asian, etc - NOT a costume
• For those surprised and calling out @KevinHart4real and his wife for throwing a horrifically Anti-Indigenous Cowboy & Indians Birthday Party, don't forget this is the same asshat who said that the R**skin slur is "not on the same bar" as the N-word.
• Did Kevin Hart and Eniko really throw their 1-year-old a “Cowboys and Indians” themed birthday party... These celebrities really love their privilege to be socially ignorant.

In my option Kevin Hart and his wife meant no harm or were trying to be racist, when they came up with the theme for Kenzo birthday.  I think at times user of the sites get so passionate about something that they speak before really seeing the big picture. It’s not just Kevin heart though there are many celebrities who get called out about their looks, career, finances, and romantic relationships. There are users who think they can say anything to the celebrities because there famous.  It’s nothing like a good comeback when the celebrity responds to the critics and Kevin Hart did his with so much class. He responded as follows:

 

Why is it so hard for people to find better things to do than being negative.... Being angry is easy...Finding happiness within yourself is what's tuff...I challenge everyone to find happiness in YOURSELF. F*** negativity.

 

Now when you think about bullying and trolls your first thoughts might think about a single person being bullied but this is not always the case. Company’s get ridiculed too. Trolls will come on these social media sites and try their best to take company’s down. They feel if they do this other people will become informed and stop promoting these brands. How can you stop this? On socialmediatoday.com they list five ways companies can handle negative criticism. They are:

 

1. Listen Carefully

Stopping a problem in its tracks (and building lasting relationships) starts with social listening.

Unfortunately, an angry customer won't always speak directly to you - to ensure you don't miss important feedback, you need to track all mentions of your brand, branded hashtags, and branded URLs shared on social - whether they include an @ mention or not.

2. Remember That Response Time Matters

When establishing your target response times, know that now, more than ever, speed matters.

Common SLAs can vary from mere minutes to hours, depending on a variety of factors including your industry and your team, and are likely to fluctuate based on peak times, specific events or campaigns. But one thing is consistent across the board: rapid replies are increasingly becoming the expectation.

In fact, 42% of customers who complain on social expect a response within 60 minutes. And with sensitive issues, like an emotionally charged complaint, a slow response can leave a customer feeling ignored and stoke the flames of further discontent.

Negative sentiment can soar, and multiply - in some cases, circulating on social until it reaches media outlets - when a brand's response is seen as comparatively too slow.

3. Be Human, Be Transparent, And Never Go Negative

Brands can take the control of the situation by responding in a helpful and genuine manner. Never respond negatively or defensively.

Avoid canned responses and strive to establish a human connection.

Ensure your customer feels listened to, and don't be afraid to apologize for any inconvenience or a less-than-stellar experience to help diffuse a negative situation.

4. Respond Publicly Before Moving to a Private Conversation

When responding to a complaint on social, always reply publicly before moving the conversation into a private message.

The days of purely 1:1 communication are behind us - on social, a brand may be replying to a comment directed solely at your brand, yet this exchange is still taking place in the public eye.

Responding publicly is essential to showcasing your brand as transparent, attentive, and helpful. Only after this first step should you move the conversation into a private message in order to provide a solution with greater detail, or to ask for sensitive information, like an account number or identifying details, essential to solving the customer's problem.

Negative feedback on social can also represent the chance to turn unhappy customers into brand advocates and provide unique opportunities to surprise and delight.

5. Know When to Engage - and When Not To

Responding to social posts - both compliments and complaints - can strengthen a brand's relationship with its customer base, but comments that veer into trolling territory (comments that are racist, sexist, or otherwise aggressively derogatory) are often better left untouched.

Be transparent with your audience by including a statement of what violates your online community terms in your bio or 'About me' section, and that you reserve the right to remove any postings of a vulgar, discriminatory, or inappropriate nature.

One caveat: be wary of deleting comments. This can incite more anger, and additional comments are likely to increase - both in number and in vitriol.

If a comment is derogatory, you can report it and on some networks, like Facebook, you can hide the comment from the public. This feature lets the comment remain visible to the user who posted it, as well as to the original poster's friends, which lessens the potential for additional conflict when removing a comment from the public eye.

By using these tactics companies can stop some of the problems that are connected with social media.

Let’s treat everyone with respect!

Love and Blessings,

Destini