Address negative publicity right away

Q:

I work for a real estate management company that oversees and manages several large apartment complexes outside Boston. We’re facing a public relations fiasco mainly because of a few troublemakers living in one of the complexes.

They are using Facebook and Twitter and who knows what else, blogs and blurbs and chats to make all these accusations about how mismanaged the complex is.

Things are broken, we don’t respond to problems, don’t fix things, etc., etc. There might be a basis of truth in some of what they say, but they exaggerate things way too much and blow things way out of proportion. What’s the best way to respond to this kind of negative publicity?

A:

Welcome to the power of social media. We have seen Facebook and Twitter being used to empower thousands of people in the street to bring down powerful, long-entrenched dictators.

But evil dictators are not the only ones who should be paying attention to what is being said about them on Facebook and Twitter and other social media sites.

All kinds of people and companies, both good and bad, have been fair game for bloggers and others.

Generally speaking, the wisest course of action is to treat any negative social media campaign quickly, seriously and with great respect.

Don’t ignore it. And worse yet, don’t put down the campaign or the people participating in it. For example, don’t dismiss the complainers as just a bunch of troublemakers.

The best response to any negative social media campaign is to get into the social media space yourself and start engaging with your detractors and other tenants.

A few years ago, disgruntled tenants might have gone door-to-door or called neighbors to organize a rent strike or some other action. Now they can do it quicker and more completely without ever leaving their apartments through social media. You need to respond just as nimbly.

You said yourself some of the complaints have a basis of truth. That is your starting point.

Get out there and change the tone of the dialogue from negative exaggeration to respectful compromise and discussion.

A little truthfulness and respect on your part in the medium of the complainers’ choice can go a long way toward de-escalating an online conflict.