Tim Berners-Lee, Paul Otlet and Clay Shirky add to that list of web visionaries if you will my Uncle Keith.
Bear with me on this one.
When I was 18 he came back from Australia to visit and he took me to the pub in the Cumbrian village Portinscale near Keswick where he was born.
He buys me a pint and after we take a drink he tells me he’s doing to tell me something really important.
He levels with me and I’m expecting some tips on how to chat up women. Or at the very least play cricket better. He leans across the table.
“Dan,” he says, “the best advice I can give you in life is never argue with an idiot.
“You end up on the same level and to a passer-by it’s just two idiots arguing.”
At the time it didn’t really register.
When that advice made sense…
Years passed by and as the social web became something that started to fascinate I end up helping train and advise people. Often, people are worried about being inundated with abuse from trolls when actually that very rarely happens. In my long experience most people are not looking for a fight but looking for information or maybe sometimes to let off some steam. A professional and human voice can really help.
But sometimes my Uncle Keith’s words came back as good sensible advice. It’s Cumbrian for ‘do not feed the trolls.’
When Cineworld looked a bit silly…
A customer unhappy at the pricing structure that Cineworld had fired a questioning tweet at them. It wasn’t an unreasonable thing to ask. The response was a masterclass in how to be a bit overbearing.
@cineworld Why delete my tweet without a response? Just wanted to know the justification of £8.30 per ticket to watch a standard 2d film?
— Alan Bishop (@AlanBishop85) April 23, 2013
Maybe as others have said Cineworld’s Twitter operator was having a bit of a bad day. But their response was at best high handed.
@AlanBishop85 Well, seeing as we’re the number 1 cinema in the UK by attendance I’d argue that isn’t the case. And the delete thing?
— Cineworld Cinemas (@cineworld) April 23, 2013
You can read the entire exchange via this storify here.
Eleven things to remember when you’re operating social media for an organisation
1. You’re the public face of that organisation.
2. In a little guy v big guy row you can expect people take the side of the little guy as a default setting.
3. The vast majority of people you’ll come across are really decent.
4. If they’re not you need to rise above it.
5. And count to ten.
6. You need to not take things personally when you are the voice of the organisation. They’re not having a go at you personally when they’re complaining.
7. You need to print off the picture at the top of the post and stick it by your screen.
8. Remember the Channel 4 social media policy of ’don’t make your boss look stupid.’
9. Most of the time you’ll not need the above at all. Seriously.
10. Be human. It beats everything. The @londonmidland Twitter bio has the words: ”We aim to reply to all tweets, but pls try to be polite if things have gone wrong – we’re real people just trying to help!”
11. Shout a colleague for a second opinion or help if you’re unsure.
Creative commons credits
Two men arguing (remixed) http://www.flickr.com/photos/97248642@N00/860372850/sizes/o/
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