Dealing With Your Haters on Facebook

If you've been in business for awhile, you probably have at least one person in your professional life who dislikes you - a lot.   And if you're on Facebook, that one person has probably "liked" your business page just so she can speak poorly of you on your page.  Developing a better understanding of people's online behavior will help equip you with the tools you need to deal with your haters in a professional manner.

One of the most common questions I hear in my social media class is:  "How do I handle people who write nasty things about me or my business on my fan page wall?"   Someone in the class almost always suggests that you simply delete the wall post and ban that particular Facebook user. That's a very bad idea. Deleting posts and banning users will almost always result in a bigger mess than the one you started out with. The banned user will create a new user name, recruit her friends and return to your page to plaster it with one nasty update after another. 

So, if deleting your hater's post and banning her is a bad idea, how DO you deal with those people who have nothing better to do with their time than to spend it on your page acting like  an annoying juvenile?

Here are a few rules to keep in mind:

1.  Never bicker with your haters in a public forum.  Even if your hater started the war, bickering with her won't make you look any better than she does.  

2. Always respond.  Yep, you heard me.  Always respond.  But . . . be polite and professional.  Ask your hater to call you (or email you) directly with any concerns or complaints.  Provide a phone number and email address in the thread to make it easier for your hater to connect with you.  If your hater continues bashing you in public, your fans will respect you for behaving above board at all times.

3.  Remember:  Most of the time, people will post things on the internet that they would never give voice to in real life.  People tend to feel brave hiding behind the safety of their keyboard and computer screen.  If your hater insists on continuing the war, ask her to meet with you so you can discuss the situation face-to-face.  Tell her you'd like to put the situation behind you so you can both move on to more important things in your life.  My bet?  She'll refuse to meet with you and you won't hear another word from her. 

Hopefully, with any luck, you'll never have to deal with this sort of thing.  If you find yourself in this situation, never let your hater affect you in such a way that you respond in an unprofessional manner.  You'll be embarrassed about it forever and you'll never live it down.   Your reputation is extremely important and you wouldn't want a juvenile Facebook user helping you ruin it - now would you? 

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cross-posted from Social Media Academy - Beloit.  Original article written on January 31, 2011:  Dealing With Your Haters on Facebook