For you fans of “Kitchen Nightmares” starring Gordon Ramsey, you must still be reveling in the social brouhaha that erupted following an episode in early May. Owners Amy and Samy Bouzaglo of Amy’s Baking Company in Scottsdale, Ariz. didn’t feel it was good enough to merely pooh-pooh the recommendations offered by the often outspoken Ramsey, but took to their Facebook page to defend themselves against the large number of Reddit commenters who descended upon their page. The threads on their page contain more than 45,000 comments at last count. What followed was an object lesson as to what NOT to do in social media. The somewhat stubborn owner Amy, engaged in an epic flame throwing match with the commenters, rich language in all caps, no less. They will no doubt be reaping what they’ve sown for quite a while to come, as few of the comments were supportive. This was an epic social media meltdown of the first proportion.
What not to do on Facebook
In a sober celebration of this meltdown, we thought it would be a good idea to talk about some the basics regarding how you should comport oneself on a social media site like Facebook.
- Always address complaints, but in a civil manner.
- Be sure to NEVER get into a flaming match with anyone posting on your page. You will undoubtedly lose!
- Correct whatever is wrong or misstated, but be sure you keep your wits about you. No confrontations!
- Try and maintain a sense of humor. Sharks smell blood in the water…
- Be professional, generous, and watch controversy die on the vine.
- Do not end up cursing or confronting. If you need to scream a name at someone, wait until you get in the shower!
- Don’t share a lot of your own personal information, but do let your personality glow!
Amy’s Baking Company is certainly not the first to go off on with their fans in precisely the wrong way, (see Nestle) however evidently this wasn’t their first foray into public mudslinging. They lit into a Yelp reviewer in 2010, and the negative reviews are still piling up!