Social media
Addressing negative comments on social media
Social media can be a powerful tool for educating the public, connecting with colleagues, staying up to date on the specialty, and more. However, social networking sites also provide forums for patients and the public to express disagreement with your messages or dissatisfaction with your services.
Allowing an open discussion stays true to the spirit of social media and can lend credibility. Experts agree that responding to every negative opinion expressed via social media is not necessary. Many of those who post negative comments will discredit themselves with the tone and content of their posts and/or other community members will rush to your defense. An overly hasty response carries the risk of inflaming an issue that would otherwise die down. Some comments will deserve a response, and these guidelines can help you evaluate when a response is warranted.
Examples of when to respond
Someone misstates the facts: If someone makes a comment and misstates the facts, you can politely respond with the correct information directly in the comment thread.
You made a mistake: If a mistake was made and someone is merely pointing it out, acknowledge the mistake, apologize for it, and make the correction. If it’s a minor mistake or typo, making an edit to your post should suffice. If you shared something factually incorrect or inadvertently offensive, you may want to delete the post and follow it up with an apology and/or explanation.
Constructive criticism: When a comment comes with a suggestion attached, it merits a response. Certainly, there will be times when you don’t want to implement the suggestion given, but it builds loyalty and trust by responding to criticism with a positive message. It is well worth the effort to thank someone who took the time to provide a suggestion or to point out a flaw.
When a comment gains unwanted attention: Sometimes if you don’t respond quickly enough, a negative comment might begin to gain traction with additional negative commenters adding to the thread or sharing on their own personal feeds. As long as the discussion is relevant to your post, it’s important to respond as soon as possible so that the commenters feel heard. See “Examples of when not to respond” below.
Things to consider when drafting a response
Respond in a timely manner. To help stem the conversation and dissuade others from posting additional negative comments, try to reply within 12-24 hours.
Listen. Take a moment to read the commenter’s response and try to understand their point of view. Even if the comment is inaccurate, make sure your response will not offend. The goal is to keep the forum positive so that followers continue to feel comfortable asking questions and engaging in conversation.
Think before responding. Don’t respond too hastily to a comment, especially if it has upset you. Make sure your response is sincere, confident, and truthful. It is okay to disagree with a response if it is done respectfully and supported by facts.
Stay positive. Adding more negativity to the conversation will only add fuel to the fire. Always communicate in a professional and respectful manner.
Stay social. Remember that social media sites are informal and conversational. The response should be professional and grammatically correct, but the tone should be consistent with the medium.
Thank the commenter for taking the time to share their thoughts. Displaying gratitude shows that you appreciate and encourage feedback — both positive and negative.
Stay HIPAA compliant. Patient requests to discuss personal health information (PHI) on a social media site are not valid authorizations to disclose their PHI in response. Instead, advise the patient to call your practice or (when appropriate) communicate via patient portal.
Proofread your response. Consider asking another person to review your response before posting. Although it’s important to respond within 12-24 hours, it’s also critically important to proofread and edit your response for content, facts, and tone.
Examples of when not to respond
Trolling: “Trolls” usually have no valid reason for posting a negative, inflammatory comment and are just looking for attention and want to draw others into arguments. Typically, they will have a history of leaving negative comments and you may be able to view other comments they’ve made by conducting a search. If it doesn’t seem likely that you will change their mind, it’s probably best to just let the comment stand.
Cyberbullying: Cyberbullies typically post vicious things about an individual with the goal of shaming or intimidating, which might be done publicly or through private message. Do not engage with these individuals.
Spam/irrelevant comments: If an off-topic, irrelevant message and/or an unsolicited commercial advertisement is posted, you should consider removing it from your page.
Obscene/inappropriate comments: If the comment is offensive and/or completely irrelevant, it should be removed from the site and, if possible, the commenter should be blocked.
How to deal with trolls and cyberbullies
Do not engage in a conversation with these individuals.
Report any threatening or bullying behavior to the social media platform. You can find information on reporting individuals to Instagram and to Twitter.
Take a screenshot for your records, and then delete the inflammatory comment.
Block the account from your feed once you have reported them to the platform.
If you consider the message to be a credible threat, report it to your local law enforcement.
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