In the Internet Era, slander and libel live forever – regardless of whether the liar/hoaxster is prosecuted or not.
Photo Caption: Wendy’s restaurant chain was victimized a few years back when a customer planted a severed fingertip in a serving of chili. The hoaxster was ultimately jailed, but still caused significant damage to Wendy’s reputation.
In 2010, schemer Anna Ayala was banned for life from Wendy’s restaurants after serving four years in prison for trying to extort a fortune from the company with an elaborate food contamination hoax.
Ayala had cooked a severed finger in chili at home and planted it in a cup of Wendy’s chili in San Jose, California – inferring that the body part had come from a kitchen accident. According to Snopes.com, the site that investigates Internet hoaxes, the fingertip actually had belonged to her husband’s co-worker, who had lost it in a workplace accident at an asphalt company.
Wendy’s obviously did nothing wrong – on the contrary, they put up $100,000 in reward to catch the perpetrator – but still must deal with the occasional fallout.
Regardless of the severity of the allegation, negative rumors can spin out of control in seconds these days.
Sprinklr’s new “Hide/Unhide” feature gives Community Managers the power to immediately hide inappropriate or undesired messages on your brand’s Facebook page without entirely deleting the message.
While your team determines WHO should respond from your company and HOW to respond, the message is replaced with a note stating: “This post has been hidden from Timeline.”
Once you have determined what your response should be and determine the level of concern — Is this a brush fire that can be immediately squashed or is this a potential inferno? — you may then select the “Unhide” option and restore the original message.
Why is this a big deal? Why not just delete every message that carries the remote whiff of negativity?
Because a strong brand should boldly address legitimate complaints or constructive criticism and not create the atmosphere of censorship. Unhappy customers should feel like their concerns are taken seriously. There is a qualitative difference between the following two Facebook comments:
“I hate your guts, Company X – You suck bigtime!”
“Your products are WAY overpriced and the quality of your widgets has really sunk to new lows.”
The first message should probably be deleted, but the second “fan” might be engaged in a civil dialogue that shows the Facebook community that you care about their opinions and are continually seeking to improve your product or service.
But back to the chili example… You only have a few precious moments to address social messages that may require damage control. Facebook Hide/Unhide freezes time for you – so that your company has the best shot of leaving a good taste in everyone’s mouth.
(Sprinklr clients can watch a slideshow on the Facebook Hide/Unhide feature here).
