Responding to Online Criticism: The Air Force Approach

I hate to break it to you, but the U.S. Air Force has a better social media strategy than your nonprofit does. Capt. David Faggard, Chief of Emerging Technology, says that he wants to foster an environment in which all enlisted personnel are equipped to engage in online discussions about the Air Force. That's a 330,000-member communications team.

Scroll to the bottom of the article to check out Faggard's flow chart for responding to criticism and complaints in public, online forums (PDF version here). I like this chart because it's so easy to follow and can apply to so many different situations. I see nonprofits (and for-profits too, for that matter) making the same two mistakes again and again when addressing criticism online:

1. Not differentiating between trolls and legitimate questions. This can go in either direction. Don't waste your efforts replying to people who are just trying to be funny. But when people aren't trolling, take their concerns and opinions seriously. You may agree or disagree with the criticism, but they deserve a respectful reply.
2. Not being transparent. Not only is it unethical to pretend not to work for your nonprofit when writing about it online; it's also bad marketing. If you care enough to read what someone has to say about your nonprofit, that says volumes about you and your organization. Why would you want to keep it a secret?

In addition to demanding transparency, Faggard's flow chart also slices negative Web postings into four elegant categories. Trolls and ragers are monitored but not replied to, while misguided writers are educated and unhappy customer experiences are rectified. With a few tweaks, the chart could also serve as a policy for moderating comments on an organization's blog or message forum.

What if you created a flow chart like this and gave a copy to every employee and volunteer at your nonprofit? Your volunteers are already tapped into communities that care about the same issues your nonprofit cares about, and it's likely that they're already writing about your nonprofit online. Using a system like this could empower them to be better, smarter spokespeople.

On the other hand, blogs and social media aren't a representation of your entire audience. Don't spend all of your time trying to make the loud people happy; the quiet ones are just as important.

There's probably criticism of your nonprofit on the Internet. There's criticism of our nonprofit on the Internet. The way in which you address and handle criticism can make a huge difference in what sort of impression you'll give potential allies, donors, volunteers, and beneficiaries each time they Google you.

As a final thought, what would happen if you began your next fundraising letter with the story of a time your nonprofit was wrong about something, and how you changed?

This blog post has been all about listening to criticism of your nonprofit, but of course there are many more reasons to listen to what people are talking about online. For more on those, see We Are Media's excellent roundup of listening tools and strategies as well as Beth's recent thoughts on the subject. For some tips on nonprofit blogging, see TechSoup's Should Your Nonprofit Have a Blog?

Image source: xkcd

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