Written on January 31st, 2012 by tasha
In our on-going series on social media policies, I’m turning my attention to a policy for handling negative comments. This seems to be the number one fear, after HIPAA, that I hear from leadership. If you have a policy in place, it will help everyone to feel more prepared should someone say something disparaging about your business.
Let’s start with a few acknowledgements:
- People may be saying bad things about your business on the Web already, you just don’t know about it. This is not as likely for elder care providers as it is for Comcast, AT&T or Microsoft, but still… Have you done a Google search lately? You may be surprised. To borrow a line from the Godfather, “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.” Better to have people post negatives about you where you can easily find them (on your own Web presence) and respond than to have negative comments floating out there on the Internet with no redress at all.
- When you do a public presentation, you risk someone publicly saying something negative. Part of live interaction with the public is taking the risk that you may have to deal with an uncomfortable bit of criticism. No one would say you shouldn’t do presentations, or shouldn’t be interviewed on a radio call-in show. Why run away from social media for this reason? The solution is to be prepared with a reasonable way to respond.
- In elder care, the overwhelming amount of comments are positive. I have taught workshops where some of the early adopters of social media were in attendance. After several YEARS of blogging and doing Facebook, one said that she literally had 300 positive comments before anyone posted a negative comment. I’ll take those odds!
- You do have the ability to delete negative comments. While it is not in the spirit of the open dialogue and engagement inherent in social media, it is always your prerogative to get rid of a posting that you think is completely off-base or inappropriate.
What are the comments you can/should just delete?
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Tags: HIPAA, Social Media and Hospice, Social Media Policies
Posted in Blogging, Facebook, Social Networking, Twitter, YouTube
Written on January 3rd, 2012 by tasha
In a previous post, we wrote about Social Media Policies even if you don’t do social media. While your business may not be involved in social networking, odds are, your employees are engaging in Facebook or Twitter, YouTube or writing a blog.
You need to be sure they do not violate HIPAA nor say things even in their personal posts that reflect poorly on your company.
In the next few blog entries, I am turning my attention to the legal risks of publishing online. After HIPAA, I would say the next most likely transgression has to do with intellectual property violations.
Intellectual property rights apply to anything you publish (in print, or on your website, blog or Facebook page). Many companies, rightfully so, encourage employees to Like, Share and Comment on the company Facebook page or blog. And certainly your official “post-ers” are employees. In that light, be sure you are clear with everyone about what can and can’t be posted from a legal point of view. You don’t want a lawsuit!
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Posted in Blogging, Facebook, Social Networking, Twitter, YouTube
Written on February 8th, 2010 by tasha
Find out at the NHPCO PreConference April 21.
While there has been a lot of publicity about the swelling ranks of Boomers on Facebook, the demographics deserve a closer look. I will be co-presenting at this 3 hour workshop on Social Media and Hospice (PC05), offered in conjunction with the NHPCO Management and Leadership Conference in Washington, DC this April. Joining me will be in-the-trenches social marketing hospice folks David Cherry (NHPCO), Susan Wallace (Ohio Hospice and Palliative Care Organization) and Liza Paul (Mount Carmel Hospice).
This very practical course is designed to help you make wise strategy decisions. The focus will be on setting realistic objectives for several different departments that might benefit from the unique strengths of social media:
- Marketing/Sales
- PR/Outreach
- Fund-raising
- HR
- Volunteers
- Advocacy
This overview workshop includes topics designed help you chart a course in the dynamic, but sometimes intimidating world of Web 2.0:
- Facebook
- Twitter
- YouTube
- Blogging
- Demographics
- HIPAA and other important policy issues
- Measuring success
No programming experience is needed! (In fact, we we’ll be talking strategy the whole time. No HTML allowed!)
There are many advantages to participating in social media, not the least of which is increased exposure and search engine optimization for your company website.
If you have any questions about the session, by all means, contact me. I’d be happy to answer them: tasha@elderpagesonline.com
Or post them as comments here.
Tags: Management and Leadership Conference, NHPCO, Social Media and Hospice
Posted in Blogging, Facebook, Hospice Marketing, Internet Marketing, Social Networking, Twitter, YouTube
