A large part of my job is tracking trends and to know what is going on in the industry- quashing inaccurate rumors or getting the real story of what is happening. Having served as a media contact for manufacturers and organizations, I am ever aware of how a reputation can be irrevocably tarnished by a comment made in anger.

Often industry friends clue me into some response threads on website forums that are so misguided, and shall I say venomous, that they strike me speechless (That's right... pretty hard to do).

I think forums are a great thing, when used responsibly. They can be an excellent resource for identifying problems with a product or service or at least getting immediate consumer feedback on something. Wise companies monitor key forums to know what their customers are thinking.

What makes me sad when posts to discussion groups are used as a billy club by someone with a personal agenda. Nasty comments made behind the anonymity of a web moniker diminish all of us.

Craft industry companies that offer forums for customers to communicate with each other do it in the spirit of promoting the sharing of ideas and making personal connections. But no matter how many times you say "the editorial comments of this person are not necessarily the views of the sponsor," the negativity is still associated with you.

Friends, just because something appears on a forum or message board, it doesn't make it true. In fact, when I have spoken to companies that have been on the receiving end of the nasty messages, their side of the story is quite different. Consider that there are three sides to every story- yours, mine and the real one- there is a lot of room for interpretation.  Unfortunately it only takes one snarky comment to create a firestorm of negativity.

We are all entitled to an opinion and those opinions will vary wildly, it's how we express those opinions, the choice of vehicle and words that can change a truth into an attack. What you send in an email or what you post on a website can last for years.

It’s a tough call, how strictly do you monitor message boards and how do you determine what is “appropriate?”

What do you think? Have you ever been on the sticky end of a nasty web post? Are you a web site forum moderator who has “seen it all”? How are you monitoring forum posts related to your business? I’d like to hear from you directly. Please share-someone else can learn from your experience and advice.-Beth

 Email me at Beth.Mauro@fwpubs.