One of the things that scares many people and brands about social media is the fact that being “out there” invites negative feedback.

I can’t allay that concern.

It does.

Of course, not being ‘out there’ renders you invisible.

What’s more, to get the benefits of social media, you need to be “Remarkable.”

And, sometimes, if you are Remarkable, there will be remarks that are not in your favor.

That’s ok (as long as it isn’t ALL remarks).

In fact, Seth Godin once said (I can’t find the quote, so I’m paraphrasing), “If you don’t make some people angry, you aren’t doing your job.”

In the social media era, those people whom you do make angry, also have a voice…and will share it with their networks.

Then, what do you do?

Before I offer my answer to that, let me give some context to why I was called “Clueless” by Carri Bugbee earlier this week.

I had the privilege this week to be one of the speakers at Jeff Pulver’s 140 Characters conference about the “state of Now” and how Twitter is changing communications (slides below, but per @jackhidary, the graphs are going to go in the next rev).

My presentation was called “How I Followed Jeff Pulver for 16 Months on Twitter and Ended Up On This Stage: Twitter as a Strategic Relationship Building Tool.”

During the talk, I presented my strategy for using Twitter, which I’ve outlined here and presented previously on my Twebinar.

I knew it would be a bit controversial, as it flies in the face of much of conventional Twitter thinking (i.e. “follow everyone who follows you” and “tweet a lot” and “the most impt metric is the number of followers you have”), but in a crowd that is committed to “openness” “transparency” and “being human,” I felt that it would be appreciated.

I certainly didn’t expect that I would hear boos during my preso (I think I was the only presenter booed on Day 1—a remarkable feat in and of itself, eh?)

And, afterwards, I went through the tweetstream to read the comments as well as spoke with a number of people “live” or as the Twitterati might say, “an in-person DM.”

If I had to break it down, I’d say it was

• 10-20% of the people who REALLY liked and agreed with my approach
• 60-70% who disagreed with it, but were respectful or at least said, I “rocked it” (thank you, Aliza)
• 10-20% who scoffed at it.

One guy even said, “you sound like an asshole.”

Ok, so now that we have the background, what strategies can we learn from this on how to respond?

So, I’m a Clueless Asshole, now what?

Two things

1. Thank those who expressed approval/appreciation or at least reported accurately
2. Engage in conversation with those who expressed disapproval or disagreement.

Let’s start with group 2 first.

Social Media is about conversation so those who don’t agree or approve provide insights and feedback and an opportunity to learn.

When you get the feedback, your job is to reach out to understand why. Perhaps you can minimize the impact of an initial negative comment or at the least, you have an opportunity to grow.

For example:

If it’s a misunderstanding, as it was in the case with @PRsarahevans (see the final tweet here) or @RManning_Mynt (see tweet 1 and 3), then it is another chance to build a relationship and elaborate.

If it’s a disagreement, we can engage in a good conversation so that we reach a level of mutual respect, as was the case with @TRUE (and which ended up with a nice live chat in-person outside) or with @mallydally

And, if you just can’t reach an understanding…well, then, move on and don’t worry about it. After all, people are entitled to their opinions and I don’t begrudge them that nor harbor ill will.

I know it’s difficult. It stings, but the chance to learn, get feedback, grow, and build relationships, allies, and Raving Fans, outweighs a few scathing comments.

What is that old childhood rhyme?

Stick and Stones may break my bones, but Tweets will never  hurt me.

And while I wouldn’t go so far as to call them, Raving Fans I will say a big thank you to:
@kodakCB @jdlasica @CatherinVentura @cheeky_geeky @thinkmaya @chrispitre @BeckyMcCray @MaiAbaza @alizasherman @KatjaPresnal @andrewkneale @bostonmarketer @ronaldbradford @dvinMsM @SecBarbie @ericleebow @nextgenweb @davekerpen @iannyc @Funzafunza @kishizuka @jbreitfelder @nfsaxberg @KCABANA @andrewkneale @jonnygoldstein @yaelbt @jackhidary @PBSIdeaLab

 

 

 

Get Never Stop Marketing by email.
Subscribe here