Manipulation of facts and moral values, appeal to deeply rooted stereotypes, and ridicule of certain qualities are used. Often such criticism is provoked by informational events related to the object being criticized.
Conflicts in social networks are usually short-lived and are forgotten during the day. But even in a day, they can damage the reputation of the attacked object. And this, in turn, will entail negative long-term consequences.
Imagine a situation where, for example, some incriminating evidence on politics is spread on the Internet. Of course, if this is well-reasoned criticism and real/convincing facts, then publication can lead to a full-fledged crisis, which cannot be resolved with “therapeutic” methods. But we will consider a more familiar situation when it comes to the substitution of concepts, exaggeration and provocation. Such conflicts have much more common characteristics than individual ones.
This allows to develop a step-by-step algorithm for resolving the conflict or neutralizing the “fire source”.
Most people skip the first step. Therefore, we will not dwell on it for now. You will find a few words about Step №1 at the very end of this text.
Step №2
Having received an angry Facebook post in the FB with the mention of your name, restrain yourself from rushing to immediately comment on the publication. The first emotions always cloud the mind and do not contribute to an objective evaluation of the state of affairs.
Step №3
Study the topic of the post in detail, analyze the arguments, facts (factoids, fakes) and the motive for their publication by its author.
Step №4
Learn all about the author. If this is your long-standing public ill-wisher, hater or opponent – it does not always make sense to react to the post. Remember that such attacks are directed to the emotional plane. Accordingly, starting to ardently prove your case in a particular issue, and not having the skills of professional public communications, you can simply harm yourself, self-discredit.
Make a pause
If the topic of a negative post is 100% clear to you, and you are confident in your abilities – start acting. Do not respond in the comments under the original post. The purpose of the answer is to convey your position to the audience. And you will definitely have a low level of supporton the opponent’s field.
As you write your answer, think about who this post is aimed at, who will read it, and based on this, give it some emotional, business, or scientific color.
Stepping forward
Step №5
Write a post about the conflict on your page. Your strong advocates will publicly support you and relay your position through reposts. This will give your version of the conflict more “trust” among casual readers, “people passing by.”
Step №6
Do not tag and do not write down in detail the author of the attack in your post. No need to promote him at your own expense and motivate your audience to switch to his resources. Just mention the name, pseudonym, occupation or hallmark of the aggressor.
Step №7
Give a brief and reasoned answer regarding the essence, or better, structure it point by point. No need to make fun of anyone, this will only show weakness and will stimulate an emotional discussion of the subject of conflict. Which, most likely, was conceived by the instigators of the attack.
Step №8
Carefully and even meticulously select the arguments, add photos, links, files, documents, quotes and other attributes that not only justify you, but also add additional persuasiveness to your position.
Step №9
Be sure to check spelling and punctuation. Mistakes made will indicate haste, nervousness and uncertainty in words.
Step №10
Your post with a response to criticism does not need to be put on advertising. But the result of the conflict, its consequences can be "highlighted". If, of course, you won. Or the results are mixed, but beneficial to you.
Step №11
Work with comments and clean "inadequate" entries would not go amiss. If your answer provides comprehensive information, then you should not continue the "debate" with your opponent, having received the next portion from him. Your position is stated, fixed and reasoned. All that can follow is just a waste of time and demagogy, from which another topic of conflict can emerge, since the author of the first attack is interested in this.
Conclusion
It is important to be consistent, calm and convincingin any conflict in social networks. No need to get distracted by idle impulsive actions: ordering bot commentators, cheating likes, searching for even more resonant compromising material on an opponent, etc.
Step №1
Seek assistance of professionals in the field of public relations – this will significantly increase the chances that you will emerge from the conflict as a winner and turn almost any situation in your favor.
Oleksii Titov, Digital-PR Director of The 1st Reputation Agency