Countless articles are written on the positives of social networking for charities, but what happens when Facebookers or tweeters turn against an organisation, ponders Vibeka Mair.
Peter Wanless, chief executive of the Big Lottery Fund, may not watch this year’s X-Factor because his favourite singer Gamu wasn’t chosen by judge Cheryl Cole. Meanwhile Stella Creasy, Labour MP and former head of public affairs and campaigns for the Scout Association, thinks ultra-cute boy band One Direction, led by Simon Cowell, will win the competition.
I know this because I follow both Wanless and Creasy on Twitter so I get real-time opinions from their feeds, along with trends forming about X-Factor as thousands of people discuss it online. The consensus after Sunday’s show was disappointment in judge Cheryl Cole, normally dubbed the ‘nation’s sweetheart’.
This isn’t new. The viral nature of online trends and campaigns is reported about every day now. A witty tweet or blog post can advance or destroy someone or something, at least temporarily, if it catches fire.
Take the RSPCA, which earlier this year fell foul to online protestors who hijacked its Facebook group over a bank holiday weekend, when its moderators were away.
Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are often extolled as charities’ best friend for engaging supporters and leading digital campaigns.
But what about the other side to this relationship?
For example, condemnation of face-to-face fundraising (which hit charity headlines with a bang last week) is a popular subject for Facebook users. The most popular group I found was ‘I hate street fundraising’ with 311 followers. The group includes a list of the worst streets for street fundraising.
Individual charities are not immune either – RSPCA, Comic Relief and Save the Children all have dedicated hate groups. The numbers are insignificant – 50 followers at most, especially when compared with the official Facebook groups for these charities. But do the small numbers mean they should just be dismissed? United Airlines faced a PR nightmare when just one disgruntled customer complained in the form of a YouTube music video. It was viewed by five million people worldwide and led to thousands of other unhappy customers coming forward.
BBC News uses this example in a new feature on companies’ engagement with social networking and complaints.
It’s a useful starting tool for dealing with negative fallouts online but what are charities currently doing in this area?
Does your charity monitor social networks for the bad, along with the good – and if you do, do you simply engage, ignore or silently watch?
