Sometimes, the human race makes me sigh! You put up a post that is designed to help people and some smartass thinks it’s open season on your Fire & Security business.
I’m not talking about people who may have a genuine customer service issue that they feel is not being handled effectively through your usual channels.
Complaints about late engineers or faulty alarm systems MUST be dealt with quickly and sensitively. AND learned from so any future unhappiness is dealt with before any customer feels the need to take it to social media.
Facebook likes comments – they’re engaging
I’m not even talking about the comments from people who want to be ‘funny‘, ‘sarcastic‘ or ‘ironic’.
Although these can be bad enough, Facebook likes engagement. Facebook particularly rewards committed interactions like comments. If you can get lots of comments soon after your update has been published, it encourages the Facebook algorithm to show your post to even more users organically.
But when a stranger who has had no previous dealings with your company leaves a comment that you feel is criticising your business… it can feel as bad as if someone has just told you your baby is ugly!
Should you hide, delete or ban nasty commenters on Facebook?
There are several options for dealing with nasty comments on one of the posts on your Fire & Security Facebook page.
You can:
- hide the comment
- delete the comment
- hide/delete and report the comment
- hide/delete the comment and ban the user
- try to manage the comment
You might instantly want to rush to the last option – delete and ban! But here are a few things that you need to know before you make that decision.
Number one is that banning someone from your Facebook Page DOESN’T mean they can’t see your previous or future posts. You might think that but you would be wrong. They just won’t see them in THEIR news feed. If they visit your Page, they will be able to see your Page AND all the posts there.
Banning WILL ONLY stop them from being able to post or comment on your Page.
But they can still SHARE your Posts, complete with nasty comments on their own personal profile.
AND if they realise that you have banned them (because they cannot leave a comment), they might be more likely to want to retaliate by saying something bad on their own profile.
1. You can hide the comment
Sometimes this is the safest option. If you hide the comment, it will still be visible to the commenter and their friends. But not to you or to other people visiting your Page. This reduces the reach of the nasty comment.
Hover over the comment and you will see 3 horizontal dots. Hover over the dots and you see the option to hide, report or embed this. Click the dots and you will get a dropdown. Click the X next to the option for Hide Comment. You will see the notification that this comment is only visible to the person who wrote it and their friends.
The commenter will not know you have done this. And you have the option to ‘unhide’ if you change your mind.
However, as Agora Pulse reports
There are cons of hiding comments on Facebook that you should consider, however. (Especially when you hide comments that aren’t offensive and only criticize your business. If users notice—and many will—there can be a perceived loss of transparency.)
Social media is all about transparency, so people may not trust you, leading to a loss of customer loyalty.
2. You can delete the comment
You have to hide the comment first – see #1 above. Underneath the notification that this comment is only visible to the person who wrote it and their friends are 3 more options.
To unhide. To delete. To Ban [name of commenter]
If you click delete, you get a pop up to confirm that you do actually want to delete the comment.
But if this person returns to your Page and sees that their comment is gone, it might pee them off. And make them more likely to leave additional nasty remarks.
3. You can delete and ban the user
As explained in #1 above, you will need to hide the comment first. Then you see the options to delete. And then to ban the user.
However, as also explained earlier, banning someone doesn’t mean they cannot access your Page and see your posts. Or stop them from sharing your content on their own profile with nasty comments.
Once it is no longer on your Page, you really do have NO CONTROL over what is being said about you. Other than through a solicitor – if it is defamatory.
4. You can report the comment – but is it really SPAM?
Hover over the comment and you will see 3 horizontal dots. Hover over the dots and you see the option to hide, report or embed this. Click the dots and you will get a dropdown. Click the option to Find Support or Report Comment.
You will need to give a reason why you want to report this comment. There are various options – nudity, racist, bad language, etc. The only one that is close to what we want is SPAM.
Sadly, a nasty comment about using a stock picture of some American security kit that uses different coloured wires to the British equivalent does not usually qualify as spam.
In Facebook’s eyes, spam is where someone is posting links to other pages or self promoting… not just being a gammon with a big gob who is trying to embarrass your business. You cannot report the comment without selecting a problem first.
5. You could try to reply and reason with the person
If the ‘nasty’ comment is due to some genuine customer service issue, you should definitely respond. Do everything you can to sound empathetic. And try to get the conversation to a phone call. Give them your direct line so you can resolve the situation quickly.
If the comment is an attention-seeking smartass who got out of bed on the wrong side that morning, you should think twice about responding. ‘Do not feed the trolls‘ is a well known internet expression. A situation like this can escalate very quickly and no one looks good. In this case, hiding the comment might be the safest bet.
6. You could wait for another user to put this person straight
This can be very high risk. Again, it can lead to an escalation of the situation. But it can also result in an expert taking your side and carefully explaining the truth to this individual.
Third party intervention from an experienced authority figure can be gold in this situation. BUT, if no one else chips in, you’re left where you started. Trying to decide whether to hide, delete or ban. And, meantime, other users will have seen the comment.
Is Facebook too much hassle for Fire & Security?
There are huge riches to be had with Facebook for Fire & Security leads if you know what you’re doing. Don’t leave it to your Apprentice or Office Admin. They may be a whizz with social media as an individual but do they really know how to promote your business effectively on Facebook?
Talk to Lollipop about our no risk marketing options. Just click the button below to find out more.
