In the recent episode of The New Mediology, Nathan, Alison, Ray, and I discussed a story about a marketing firm that sued a former client for what the ex-client said about the firm on Facebook and Twitter. The former client criticized the company so the company sued him. The big takeaways from the discussion are:
- You avoid legal trouble when you make a statement of fact. Once you go outside that, you open yourself up for litigation.
- There are legal issues and public relations issues. In business, you need to recognize that just because you have legal justification, you might lose more by pursuing it when ultimately you have a PR problem that is resolved a different way entirely.
- It's important to understand social media so you respond appropriately to criticism that may come from social media.
- Social media tools give you the means of responding quickly. If you aren't using a blog, Facebook, Twitter, etc. you're missing some platforms to deal with criticism and respond to customer service issues.
- When you respond to anything, you bring balance to the discussion. Don't be afraid to respond, but again, understand the right ways to respond and the culture within which you will be responding.
You can hear the entire discussion from The New Mediology podcast in iTunes or you can listen online.