Negative feedback on social media is public criticism of a brand in comments, reviews or posts. It is essential to realise who the reply is actually for – not the author of the complaint, but the dozens of people who read it and judge how the company will behave. Good practice is to reply quickly, factually and without being defensive, to acknowledge the problem if it occurred, and to offer a concrete solution with a move to private communication. Deleting critical comments makes the situation worse, because it generally comes to light and provokes a bigger wave than the original complaint. Only insults, spam and unlawful content should be removed, and this should be stated in the published discussion rules. Repeated complaints about the same thing are a signal of a problem in the service, not in the communication.
See also: Comment moderation, Corporate crisis communication, Online review management.
