7 Ways to Deal With A-Hole Facebook Fans
Social media managers know what’s up — with thousands of fans on a Facebook Page, there’s bound to be at least one who ruins the fun for everyone. He shoots down every post, is the first to call out a typo, and loves incorporating profanities into even his most positive comments.
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Add your textbook spammers, angry customers and historically unhappy people to the mix and it’s no wonder someone has to keep an eye on your company’s Facebook Page at all times. It’s easy to consider banning every user who ruffles your feathers, but you should weigh multiple options before planning your attack strategy. Here are seven ways to deal with your least favorite Facebook fans: the a-holes.
1. Hide the post or comment.
To hide a comment, hover over the top-right hand “x” and click “Hide.” Now the post can only be seen by the person who wrote the comment and his or her friends. They’ll have no idea the post is hidden, and you can always click “Unhide” later if you like.
When someone posts on your Page’s Timeline and you’d like to delete it, click “x” in the top-right corner, then “Hidden from Page” from the dropdown menu. Be warned: If you hide a photo from your Timeline, it will still appear in your Page’s photo album. So be sure to delete it from the album if you’d like it to disappear for good.
2. Delete the post or comment.
Deleting a post or comment removes the content permanently, though there is an option to bring comments back. When hovering over the top-right hand “x” of a comment, click “Hide” then “Delete.” Now no one can see this content, including the person who wrote it. Click “Undo” to bring the comment back into a “hidden” state. Click “Unhide” to bring it back completely.
To delete a post from your Page’s Timeline, click the “x” in the top-right corner, then “Delete.” From the warning screen that appears, you can choose to just “Delete” or “Delete and Ban User,” a double whammy for especially inappropriate fans.
3. Report the post or comment.
When deleting a comment or post, Facebook always gives an option to report the content. For posts, look for the “Report/Mark as Spam” option by clicking the “x” in the top-right corner of the box. You can undo this action.
For comments, click the “x” in the right-hand corner, then click “Report.” You’ll have the option to confidentially and anonymously report the post as spam or scam, hate speech, a personal attack, sexually explicit content, violence or harmful behavior. From here, Facebook will check if it violates any of its Community Standards.
4. Respond to the post or comment.
Sometimes you can spin a negative review or angry comment into a positive experience. And if other fans ever visit your Page and scroll through your comments, they’ll see you care because you took the time to respond. Thank the user for the feedback, give a friendly explanation, turn the situation into an appropriate joke or offer a discount.
5. Move the conversation outside Facebook.
If the comment is serious enough — think of a very unhappy customer with a complicated customer service issue that needs more attention — encourage that person to call or email so you can discuss the situation further. Since you know her first and last name, you might be able to take care of the situation immediately. If this is the case, still let her know via Facebook that she's being taken care of. You want her and your other fans to know you care.
6. Ban the user.
Save yourself future headaches by blocking your least favorite users from the Page. They’ll still see the Page and be able to share content from it, but they won’t be able to comment or post. This is the right strategy for those users who are on a mission to bad-mouth your company for eternity, despite your best efforts to remedy their issues, for those spammers who won’t leave your Page alone, or for those inappropriate users who swear one too many times.
If you’ve hidden a post or comment, you’ve probably seen the “ban” option appear a few places. For a post, click the “x” in the top-right hand corner, then “Delete,” then “Delete and Ban User.” On comments, hide the post first by clicking the “Hide” that appears under the “x” in the top-right hand corner of the comment, then choose the “Ban” option that appears once the comment has been hidden.
You can also ban — and un-ban — users from your admin panel. Under “Get More Likes,” click “See Likes,” then click the “x” next to the person you want to ban. Check “Ban Permanently.” Access a list of all your banned users from “Edit Page > See Banned Users.” If you don’t click “Ban Permanently,” the user is only “removed” from your Page, which means he'll no longer Like the page and your posts won’t appear in his News Feed. However, he can go back and Like your Page again.
7. Ignore it.
Sometimes it’s best to take the high road. If there’s an angry post on your News Feed, the odds of all of your fans seeing it are small. They’d have to visit the Page and seek out the “Recent Posts by Others” section. If it’s a comment, some people will see it. However, many fans often come to the rescue when one fan drags down a brand they love.
Be willing to wait it out a bit and your fans might fight the fight for you. Now that’s brand loyalty.
