Handling Snarky Comments

I guess I'm lucky that I only just got my first snarky comment on one of my Entrepreneur articles last week.  My first ever ... even after probably close to a 1,000 blog posts at this point.  My first snarky comment!  Now I am sure I sound naive and a bit like Sandra Dee (if you don't know who that is, don't ask!), but it's the truth.  Getting comments on my posts the past few years has been a lot of fun.

But this one began with "Boo!"

I won't say what my first reaction was ... that's not polite.  But I did quickly find myself taking my own advice.  I waited a while before I responded, and then said something hopefully constructive instead.

I apologized for the reader being disappointed, and they succinctly explained why I wrote the article the way that I wrote it.  And then I shut up.  Didn't say another word.  And I let other readers come to my defense.  I let them say why the article made sense and how perhaps it's just not "for everybody," but that it was working for them.

Bravo and thank you to the community.  Funny thing is that this is exactly what we counsel brands to do.  Let your community, your fans, your consumers do your talking in this situation.

Now we have seen the other extreme, that's for sure.  And it's not pretty.  There was a recent incident that has been labeled "the most epic meltdown in Facebook history," where a restaurateur responded to some criticism.  A reality show restaurateur.  Over and over again.  It got down right nasty and ugly.  And I'm imagining not a happy ending.  It's what NOT to do.

If you want to read about it, and learn from it, click here.  It's epic.  You can literally read the blow by blow.

What's your experience?  Jim.

Jim Joseph
- President, Cohn & Wolfe NA
- Author, The Experience Effect series
- Professor, NYU
- Contributor, Entrepreneur and #TeamDigital