How NOT To Engage Using Social Media

How NOT to Engage Using Social Media

For you fans of “Kitchen Nightmares” starring Gordon Ramsey, you must still be reveling in the social brouhaha that erupted following an episode in early May. Owners Amy and Samy Bouzaglo of Amy’s Baking Company in Scottsdale, Ariz. didn’t feel it was good enough to merely pooh-pooh the recommendations offered by the usually outspoken Ramsey but took to their Facebook page to defend themselves against the large number of Reddit commenters who descended upon their page…The threads on their page have more than 45,000 comments at last count. What followed was an object lesson as to what NOT to do in social media. The somewhat stubborn owner Amy, engaged in a legendary flame throwing match with the commenters, rich language in all caps, no less. They will no doubt be reaping what they’ve sown for quite a while to come, as some of the comments were supportive. This was an epic social media meltdown of the first proportion.

In a sober celebration of this meltdown, we thought it would be smart to go over some the basics regarding how you should comport oneself on a social media site like Facebook.

• Always address complaints, but in a civil manner.
• NEVER get into a flaming match with a poster. YOU WILL LOSE!
• If something is incorrect or misstated, you have the right to, and should, correct it. Again, decorum is the word of the day here.
• Keep a sense of humor whenever possible. Nothing feeds controversy like wounded feelings replied to negatively.
• Be professional, generous, and watch controversy die on the vine.
• Do not end up cursing or confronting. If you want to scream a name at someone, hold back until you get in the shower!
• Don’t share a lot of your own personal information, but do let your personality shine through!

Amy’s Baking Company is by no means the first one to go off on  with their fans in precisely the wrong manner, (see Nestle) however apparently this wasn’t their first foray into public mudslinging. They lit into a Yelp reviewer in 2010, and the negative reviews are still piling up!