I’ve recently noticed several online fiascos in which professionals from different industries started to duke it out in public (via Twitter, blogs, or personal sites) without really thinking about the consequences of their actions. I will not mention names or provide a link to the stories, because I do not want to provide additional “Google juice” to these events. But there were journalists duking it out with PR people, lawyers against public figures, enthusiasts versus industry professionals… this needs to stop. Both sides need to realize that no one wins in these situations, because the old ways of dealing with these problems no longer works. Why?
- With the advent of the Internet, and the many new social medias it spawned, your conflict becomes public in a second. See Todd Van Hoosear’s article “Bad Information Breeds Quickly”
- The game of who is right and who is wrong is no longer relevant. Public opinion, not facts, decide who is right and who is wrong. Perception may not be the truth, but it is the reality.
- The majority of these public fights are caused by one thing – miscommunication. Both sides are usually at fault.
- The public loves conflict. The more both sides sling “facts” at each other, the more people join in to watch the drama. Just think about a school yard fight – two idiots fighting and a crowd watching.
So what can be done?
- Communicate, reach out, apologize (even if you think you are right), ask for independent mediation, and be humble. If you threaten to sue, encourage your “fanboys” to bash the other side, or get into a retaliatory mode, you will lose in the court of public opinion. This court has more impact and more authority than the Supreme Court of this country. Why? Because public opinion has no geographic boundaries and the masses can squash you.
- You can’t make Google, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etc remove negative information fast enough. It will get spread out, cached, copied, etc. The legal process takes too long and is too expensive to be worthwhile. If your lawyer tells you that he/she can sue – fire them. They will gladly bill you to write “nasty-grams” (that they pulled from their templates) to companies who… gasp… have 10 times more attorneys and associates to tell you to buzz off. Go back to the first piece of advice – communicate and reach out.
- If nothing works, than stop talking about it, ignore it, and continue doing good deeds, so they overshadow the blemish of your public fight.
Hi, my name is Apolinaras Sinkevicius, but most call me Apollo. I am the guy who takes care of the day-to-day business and technology of rapidly growing companies. 12 years in managing the "nuts and bolts" of companies and being a steward of corporate cultures makes me a seasoned operations professional and right hand person to founders and CEOs.
Good, good points!
The last bullet is spot on.
Remember one piece of advice for dealing with bullies and teasers you got way back in sixth grade?
Ignore them, stop talking, don’t add fuel to the fire.
Catherine Carey’s last blog post..Indulging Curiosity and Taking Care of Yourself
I agree, but I think for many small companies these situations can seem relatively large and be difficult to ignore. I would be interested to know if and when you would ever step in and make a public announcement in defense of your company.
Once you get to the last bullet, from what I have seen, any further public statements just pull more “Google juice” and attention. The smaller you are, the more you just need to walk away. This is not about being right, but rather reducing the damage. Nobody cares about one fight when you have hundreds of great stories about you out there. Spend the energy on the positive.
Very sound advice. The power of apologizing (even when you’re right, as you point out) and humility cannot be underestimated. Defensiveness, snideness, or outright aggression only fuel the fire.
I also agree that, if you are already doing good work, time is on your side. In the heat of the moment, it’s often hard to realize that the flame war is just a flash in the pan.
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