In light of the recent events in Felixstowe, where a seafront kiosk owner wrote a post on Facebook advising parents to discipline their children if they are being too noisy, we thought we’d weigh in on keeping your cool on social media.
Chill out!
It can be all-too-easy to have a negative experience, or see a negative review, and fly off the handle on social media.
However, we would advise that it’s much better to take a step back, look at the situation objectively and decide whether posting about those situations on social media is really a good idea.
The problem with social media and the internet in general is that your tone of voice is lost in the transition from the words in your head, to the words you type and the words that your customers read on the screen.
Each customer will read the post differently, interpreting different meaning.
What one customer might read as good-will, another might read as malicious sarcasm.
Our advice to the kiosk owner in Felixstowe would have been to, at the very least, run the post by someone else first, whether it’s a colleague, friend or even a customer.
It’s best to keep your social media accounts positive, even in the face of unfair criticism or insults. Standing up for yourself and your business can be very valid, but you need to use a writing tone that won’t shine a negative light on your brand or insult your customers.