A few blogs (starting with Chris Brogan’s) that eventually led here have been talking about the need for companies to respond to every comment they receive. And this is actually a topic that came up during a social media presentation at my company today.
It seems businesses’ main concern about starting a blog is the comments. What will people say? What if it is negative? While it matters and definitely should be addressed, part of the fun, excitement and point of social media is to allow peope to respond. People want to have a say in their lives.
I do not believe every comment must be addressed. There are tons of people with nothing else to do than stir up trouble. There is a time to nip it in the butt and there are times to just let it roll. The good and bad thing about social media (depending on your situation) is that it is short lived. Today’s disaster is typically gone tomorrow.
When you have something to say about a comment than say it. But make sure you aren’t pointing fingers or just trying to pump up your own name. This is a dialogue and you should treat it as such. Be coherent. Use facts. Thank the person for reading the blog. And if necessary, offer to continue the conversation out of the comment arena. The common man doesn’t need to hear / read every little detail about Joe Blow’s problem with your company. If you feel the answer will help more than just Joe, put it in the comment. If not, take it to a more private setting.
There were a lot of thoughts there, but hopefully you get the idea.
[...] communication swing wide open, which our very own account executive and publications manager, Melanie Thompson, blogged about today as well. The question is – what [...]
Hi Melanie, thanks for linking to my blog. This issue that I am bringing up isn’t that every comment receive a comment. It’s a bigger issue than that. It’s more an issue of scalability in an example where a company that blogs and develops a readership/community because they do comment (i.e. have a conversation) on their blog and then eventually they disengage (i.e. stop conversing). Tools scale, but people and time do not…this is something companies need to consider when they decide they want to blog.
Thanks,
Beth