Facebook ‘Face-Off’. Might you be the centre of attention and not even know it?
March 8, 2010
Have you been part of a ‘Facebook Face-off? Apparently it’s becoming an increasingly popular trend.
Significant numbers of clients and consumers are turning to the popular social networking site to vent their anger and frustration if they feel a company or individual has failed to deliver in some way.
The ease with which a Facebook profile can be set up, and the accessibility to the internet via mobile devices, means you could find yourself being attacked and berated on the internet within minutes of a customer feeling aggrieved if you fail to live up to their expectations in any way and you wouldn’t necessarily know it.
‘That’s one reason why I haven’t created a Facebook page’ you may protest. Unfortunately not having an official Facebook identity gives no protection whatsoever from online feedback and complaints.
Virtually anyone can create a profile and call it the ‘I hate ….’ or ‘XYZ is the pits’ group and invite others to comment and support their stance.
An article by Beck Vass on this subject in the New Zealand Herald this week notes businesses and individuals are having to deal with online criticism captured in Facebook groups they probably didn’t even know existed.
This online criticism can be extremely damaging. Not only might the feedback be inappropriate, or inaccurate, it can also be retained for years to come in the digital domain.
The more frequently a web page is accessed and modified, the higher up the search engine rankings it tends to be. So a Facebook page that’s being accessed by numerous readers recording comments and feedback from a wide range of computers and mobile devices can be very highly ranked in search engine outcomes.
Of course, the reverse is also true. If you have happy clients and customers willing to place positive feedback and comments about you, creating a Facebook Fan page may be an extremely useful tool in your promotional armoury.
Irrespective of whether you agree with it or not, Facebook’s not a fad. Have it working for you and it can help you create, and maintain, a positive online presence and reputation.
Have it working against you, however, and you could find yourself facing-off with your detractors, and having to defend and repair your reputation, from a position of relative weakness. The question is, do you even know what people are saying about you?