by Kelly Clay, Contributor
By now you have likely read or heard about Amy’s Baking Company Bakery Boutique
& Bistro’s “epic”
meltdown on Facebook. The restaurant in Scottsdale, Arizona is owned by Samy
and Amy Bouzaglo, and was recently featured on an episode of Gordon Ramsay’s
“Kitchen Nightmares”. Apparently, the Bouzaglo’s were such a “nightmare” to work
with Ramsay fired them. Customers aren’t exactly fond of Amy’s either; reviews
on Yelp YELP -3.1% call the restaurant “horrible” and
accuse the owners of stealing waitresses’ tips. To make matters even worse,
the Bouzaglos are notorious for their outrageous responses to these reviews on
Yelp.
Yesterday’s incident with Amy’s Baking Company Bakery Boutique & Bistro
has generated a lot of conversation about what not to do on social media as a
brand. But underneath the typical commentary about bad brand behavior and
reputation management are tips anyone (yes, even you) can takeaway from how the
Bouzaglos have handled social media the past few years.
1. Don’t Reply To Everyone
Amy’s Baking Company Bakery Boutique & Bistro came under fire after Reddit
discovered the episode of Amy’s on Kitchen Nightmares and began to lash out
at the bakery on Reddit. In the episode the Bouzaglos are seen swearing at
customers and staff, and soon the backlash moved to the Bakery’s Facebook FB -1.74% page. The Bouzaglos quickly jumped
on Reddit, making fake accounts to reply to nearly every comment about their
restaurant, as well as not only responding to comments on their Facebook page. Not only
were the responses incredibly defensive, but in all caps, facilitating even more
discussion and backlash. Had the Bouzaglos selectively responded to clarify the
story (or even firmly defend their actions), there would likely have been much
less backlash and aggression as they kept the fire going.
2. Don’t Respond to Trolls
Believe it or not, many people who comment on forums like Reddit or spam
Facebook pages are trolls. (I know – this is a bit shocking.) When I first
started writing I learned quickly to not “feed the trolls,” as that also adds
fuel to the fire. Over the past few days the Bouzaglos made the classic mistake
of doing exactly the opposite, which not only facilitated more aggression but
also made them look like even easier targets to attack, as they clearly don’t
understand social media. Not only is it critical not to reply to everyone
(especially those who are critical of your content), but it’s especially
important to ignore trolls, as they will – as the Bouzaglos know – only make
your life hell.
3. Don’t React Right Away
If you do feel the need to respond to a critical comment – wait. You may be
fuming, defensive, and angry that someone has insulted your hard work (or even
just your thoughts.) Critical comments are personal and understandably can hurt
your feelings – but if you respond when you’re fuming, defensive, and angry you
will likely only make the situation worse for your brand (whether that’s your
personal brand or your actual business.) Consider waiting 10 minutes, an hour,
or even until the next day to respond. In situations where I really don’t know
what to say, I like to ask a friend whether my response is appropriate – or if I
should even send one at all. In many aggravated situations, silence is severely
underrated.
4. Reddit is Not for the Weak
Reddit has become increasingly mainstream – especially after a few recent
AMAs with high-profile people, such as the President. Unfortunately, many people
don’t understand the culture of Reddit conversations and threads. All too often
people or business owners will be mentioned (often critically) and feel a need
to jump into the conversation to defend their project or brand. This, of course,
is a bad idea – that is, unless you have thick skin. As demonstrated by those
criticizing Amy’s, Redditors can be brutally honest. (In fact, the original
thread about Amy’s was taken down as it escalated to the level of being a “witch
hunt” against the owners of Amy’s.) If someone mentions you or your business on
Reddit, seriously consider whether you can and want to get involved in the
discussion.
5. Don’t Insult People
As all of our mothers said growing up: “If you don’t have anything nice to
say, don’t say anything at all.” Of course, while others on the Internet are
being rude, aggressive and critical, it’s hard not to be a jerk, too.
But the Bouzaglos often responded to criticism (especially on Yelp) with
unnecessary insults and derogatory language. It may be hard to handle feedback
about your thoughts or work, but responding with personal attacks is always
unprofessional. As any career coach, guidance counselor or even your boss would
say now: It’s an important skill in life to be able to process criticism without
taking it personally.
6. Learn When To Walk Away
Finally, when facing unwelcome feedback on social media, it’s important to
know when to walk away. Not every mention deserves a response, not every blog
post about you needs a comment, and not every Reddit thread needs an
explanation. Even when there is heated debate about something you or your
business did, it’s important to know when to say something (if you say something
at all) and when to walk away from the conversation to avoid instigating more
backlash. Often, your responses will be the only thing adding fuel to the fire.
If you walk away, you’ll be surprised how quickly the negative conversation dies
down – and people leave you alone.
7. Don’t lie
Earlier this afternoon Amy’s updated their Facebook page with the
following post: “Obviously our Facebook, YELP, Twitter and Website have been
hacked. We are working with the local authorities as well as the FBI computer
crimes unit to ensure this does not happen again. We did not post those horrible
things. Thank You Amy &Samy”. This not only violates many of the previous
things you should not do on social media, but also lends to one last
tip: don’t lie. If it’s not already obvious you are lying, it will end
up backfiring and ruining your reputation. (That is, if like Amy’s, you haven’t
already done so by making the previous social media mistakes.)
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