As a person or a company with a social media footprint, one must be poised to deal with grievances and critical remarks, which are more often the norm than the unusual. When you have hundreds of individuals actively engaging with your social media profiles, negative comments are unavoidable. The way you handle adverse feedback has a significant impact on your digital reputation, regardless of whether you’ve been dealing with a displeased customer or a misconception. Leading consumer brands from all over the world have led the way in coping with unfavourable reviews. Before criticism has a negative effect on your online reputation, we must learn how to respond to criticism, whether it is constructive or negative.

What should be your immediate and instantaneous reaction?

In light of this, how would you choose whether to respond to unfavourable remarks left on your social media profile and when to ignore them? This decision is primarily based on the information around your social media account and the type of comments made. The implications will be very different when taking that into account and who is leaving critical remarks on your social media presence. In effect, this means that each comment needs to be considered separately. It’s simple to forget that the person behind a social network account is a real person in today’s contemporary world. This is notably relevant if you merely use social media as a regular person.

When should you actively reply to negative comments rather than just ignoring them? You should definitely give this some thought on a personal level. Contrary to what you may hear as common wisdom, just ignoring or removing unfavourable comments isn’t usually the best course of action. While filtering and deleting is the best course of action if you are being harassed, intimidated, blackmailed, or otherwise humiliated online, there are many murkier areas of terrible comments that could contain the prospect of exerting a good impact with a little assistance from your side.

You have decided to respond. But what now?

What are the dos and don’ts now that you’ve made the decision to reply to criticism?
First and first, it’s best to respond favourably, regardless of how awful the comment said about you was. This indicates your concern for the other users of your social media profile. Keep your cool, avoid becoming angry, and avoid defending yourself. Being positive and upbeat go hand in hand with this, but you need also to keep a courteous demeanour. Maintain composure and avoid commotion. Even if someone is attacking you violently, keep your composure and don’t exhibit any signs of distress. This is especially important if you use social media on behalf of a business or if you have a public account as an employee.