Congratulations, your Facebook post went viral! Now the panic sinks in. This can be overwhelming.
Below are tips on how you can prepare for and respond to the situation if it happens. Always remember, too, that I’m here to help if you need me.
What to prepare: For your farm Facebook page, you should include a comment policy description in the “About” section under “More info” and then “General information.” This is important because if a follower questions why you deleted or hid a comment, you can reference your policy.
DBA’s description says: “We value different perspectives, so we welcome a robust discussion through comments on our wall. However, we don’t allow vulgar language, personal attacks, sexist remarks, racial or ethnic slurs, or comments that are far off topic. Overall, we want to create a friendly environment where we can celebrate the accomplishments of our members and at the same time openly and respectfully discuss challenges that our dairy community faces. Thank you.”
For your personal Facebook page, I recommend allowing only your friends to see your posts. You can set this up by going to “Settings” and then “Privacy” and “Timeline and Tagging.” Set each item to “Friends” or “Only me.”
Who to engage with: With hundreds to thousands of comments on a viral post, you will have a handful of people who are genuinely interested and have questions. Engage with those followers. For the other comments, ignore. I know it can be difficult. Most of the time, they will only want to make you upset. You can delete or hide any vulgar or off-topic comments or personal attacks.
How to engage: Before I engage with someone on Facebook, I view their profile to get an idea of their personality and values. If their profile seems acceptable and their question is genuine, then it is appropriate to respond. Dairy Management Inc. (DMI) has a great messaging booklet on the Dairy Hub, and Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin have great Wisconsin facts to share.
How to handle the aftermath: Once the activity begins to slow down, I recommend going through each comment and either responding, ignoring or deleting according to the tips above. It also would be in your best interest to block the users that left inappropriate comments. Cleaning up the posts will take time but will be worth it.
You want to make sure you are leaving a good impression for your new followers.
In May, I did a webinar with Animal Agriculture Alliance that went into further detail on how to handle a viral Facebook post with specific examples. If you’re interested in viewing the webinar, go to the members-only section under “News and Resources” tab at widba.com or contact me at jguza@widba.com.
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