While recently reading a Facebook related thread in a credit union forum I saw a comment from someone stating that their credit union doesn’t allow fans to leave unsolicited comments on their wall.
Yikes! Sound the alarm. Red alert! Red alert!
The reasoning was that they feared moderating the page would be unmanageable. I moderate my credit union’s Facebook page (close to 5,000 fans) and haven’t had any trouble with the process thus far.
The problem with not allowing fans to comment is that you’re turning a social network into a one way stream, which doesn’t allow for engagement and drastically reduces the opportunity for interaction between the brand and consumer.
It was mentioned that the credit union allows fans to comment on certain items, but that falls short. Those comments still have to be moderated and that method actually makes it appear as if the credit union simply doesn’t want to give their members (customers) a chance to leave unsolicited comments.
I know it’s probably scary to let go of this control, but doing so (for this example) will likely yield positive (credit unions typically have favorable views amongst members) results and allow the brand to create deeper relationships.
Open the door and let the conversation happen.
Related articles:
Facebook Moderation: Tools that Moderate… and then Some
How to Handle Negative Facebook Comments
