If written carefully, you can turn a social media negative into a big positive.Disaster Social Media Experiences and How To Fix Them

Although social media negative effects are there, it can also have many positive effects for your business.  Unfortunately, however, there are negative effects of social media too. The good news is that you can fix these problems.

Social Media Negative Experiences

For example, United Airlines took a hit in their market share after a passenger was forcibly removed from his seat because the airline overbooked the flight. The passenger, Dr. Dao from Kentucky, was dragged down the isle of the plane while other passengers watched in shock. One passenger yelled “This is wrong!”. Other passengers used their phones to video the entire incident. Subsequently, the video was posted on Reddit and quickly went viral. United had an opportunity to take a wrong and turn it into a right. A bad social media situation can be fixed.

Negative Social Media Experiences and How to Fix Them

Following the initial public outcry of the video showing the passenger forcibly removed, United had an opportunity to handle the crisis. United CEO Munoz, however, failed to calm the storm. His description of the event particularly upset many people. “I apologize for having to re-accommodate these customers.” A second outcry on social media took place after the CEO’s comment and his description of the event as “re-accomodate” upset many people. The apology fell flat and many people commented online that he was not sincere when addressing the public. Reassurance was what was expected, but finger-pointing is what the public received.

Additionally, later that evening, the CEO sent out a letter to employees stating, ” I want to commend you for continuing to go above and beyond.” The public was mad, and for good reason. The airline wanted its paying passengers to give up their seats for their employees. The passenger in question had a paid ticket and fully anticipated arriving at his destination, but United decided they needed his seat for employees. This is an example of a bad customer service.

A Video Goes Viral on Social Media

The video of the incident on the United Airlines flight was hard to watch. As security pulled the passenger away, his face hit the armrest causing his nose to bleed. You can hear the screeching and the gasping of other passengers. They then dragged the doctor down the isle of the plane while on his back. It must have been a humiliating experience for the ejected passenger.

Social Media Negative Effects

Social media is used to build upon and engage future customers, conduct customer relations, and more.  But in this case, social media negative effects have caused the company to lose quite a bit of market share.

The Art of the Response

It is important that business owners have a plan in place before the crisis happens.

Guidelines for a social media response:

• Timing counts and most social media users expect a response within 24 hours. Any longer might discourage future communications.
• Don’t respond to each and every tweet and comment. Do respond at the same venue where the poster has asked the question.
• If you receive an angry comment, always take the high road and respond calmly with the facts, your point of view and an apology (if appropriate).
• If someone uses a negative comment to extract money from you, be careful. We have seen reports of people using negative reviews to squeeze a company. The reviewer offered to remove negative comments in exchange for payment (from the company). Is this illegal?  It is certainly unethical for a customer to offer removal in exchange for money. Review each social media incident. Do not respond with a cookie-cutter reply.

Respond to Negative Comments

You can be a hero to your customers. Respond to comments in a way that demonstrates to the reader that you care about your brand and acknowledge the person’s point-of-view.

Your response, if carefully crafted, can actually take a social media crisis and turn it into a benefit.  If written carefully, you can turn a negative into a big positive. If handled well, you can be a hero to the social media user. It can take a lot of time and planning, but it is well worth it.

Respond to Positive Comments

Social media is a communication process. Even to positive comments, you should respond. If someone is praising you, re-tweet it. Go for it! It is okay to toot your own horn. At the same time, do not feel compelled to respond to a comment that does not warrant one.

Follow Up with Social Media Reviews

Most important, do not forget to follow up. If you have an angry customer, be sure to outline steps taken to minimize future reoccurrence.  Most important, listen to all customers, even the angry ones.

Follow up with them to reassure them. People want a voice! Some people will want to know that their comments resulted in a positive for others. However, there are a few people out there that comment in a way to “get” something. Those are the people that you might not be able to make happy.  In fact, there are documented cases of social media causing depression .  In this case, be careful. Pause before responding.