Should You Hide or Delete Negative Social Media Comments?
Deciphering if you or your business should hide or delete negative social media comments may be a tough decision. The answer to this question relies heavily on your account as well as the context of the posts and comments. It may just need to be addressed on a comment-by-comment basis. Additionally, deciding on if you should remove the comments or not depends on the nature of the account. Is it your personal account? Is it for a large corporation receiving negative reviews? These should be acknowledged before a choice is made.
Should You Hide or Delete Negative Social Media Comments?
Getting negative comments
It doesn’t matter if you’re the juiciest peach on social media, if you have enough followers or a post of yours goes viral, someone will find something to complain about in the comments section. It’s no secret that people can be quite ruthless on social media platforms. People often forget that there’s an actual human behind the other side of the screen. Even though we shouldn’t take these comments seriously or personally, it doesn’t make them feel any better. Social networks that were initially intended as a way to connect with family and friends have now turned into profitable social platforms. Being able to resolve issues with these comments in an appropriate manner is imperative to a positive social media presence. So let’s dive deeper.
When to address the comments
Let’s first go over when you should address the negative comments. First and foremost, if you or your company is being harassed, you should absolutely block and delete whoever is engaging in this harmful activity. With that out of the way, let’s go over the more gray areas.
If you’re an influencer or a social media manager with an audience that is watching your every move, you may want to calmly address the negative comments. Engaging mindfully may also open up a conversation that will help you come to a solution or agreement with the person complaining or with a differing opinion than your own. You may also want to be aware if deleting or ignoring a comment will appear as if you’re hiding something. You don’t want to lose your credibility due to this.
If an apology is in order, it would be wise to reply to the comment. If a customer is unsatisfied and upset, it should be properly addressed. In certain cases, the best customer support practice is directing them to discuss it further privately. Finally, if your reputation is on the line, you’ll want to respond. If a statement has been made that is false or inaccurate, you are more than allowed to make clarifications and corrections to it.
When to ignore them
Now that we’ve gone over when to address it, let’s go over when to ignore it. Often times with influencers, their audience may do the defending for them. In this case, you have people that have your back and you won’t need to engage if you don’t have the energy. Other cases that warrant deletion include bullies, profanity, spam, random attacks, aggression, cultural slurs, racial bias, harassment, and threats. You can even go as far as blocking this user if it continues.
Ways to respond
What exactly are the appropriate ways to respond to negative customer comments if you do decide to? Firstly, you’ll want to be positive and polite. Staying positive and kind will help you keep your credibility, especially if you’re responding on a business Instagram account or Facebook page. As stated before, best customer service practices include directing them to contact you privately via direct message. This allows an opportunity for resolution without having the conversation displayed for all to see. You may also want to respond to social media comments quickly so it doesn’t come off like you’re ignoring them. Finally, you can choose to keep it funny. Keeping a sense of humor about it may help calm the complaining person down. However, have discretion with this one as it may come off the wrong way.
Don’t let it affect you
It’s important to keep in mind that negative comments on social media (especially degrading ones) are never personal. It’s almost always a case of someone who’s struggling internally. Knowing this when you’re engaging in social media in any form will ensure that you have a much more pleasant experience than you would otherwise.
Additional Reading: How to Do Social Media Customer Service the Right Way
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