Virgin Fires Employees over Facebook, Facebook Fires Back

Virgin Atlantic recently fired 13 employees over content that they had been posting to Facebook. After the news spread, people on Virgin Atlantic's Facebook Fan Page responded by calling out them on firing employees over Facebook content.

From the Facebook Graffiti feature:


More anger stemmed from the wall on the Fan Page:



The medium that caused the firing of 13 employees is the same medium being used to voice grievance against the company. I won't comment on whether Virgin Atlantic was right or wrong in firing the employees since I haven't read all of the details.

My advice for Virgin Atlantic: don't overreact to the negative criticism. You have about 8,000 fans on Facebook and only a few angry comments. Don't get hostile and lash out at the negative comments. It's the internet, it happens.

Ihateyourcompany.com

Very interesting article from the WSJ on how companies are handling user feedback online.

What should companies do?
Get involved in the conversation. Approach the consumer in an understanding, not angry, tone. You won't be able to buy up every negative domain or stop every comment, so the best thing you can do is be transparent. Approach the customer with open arms and see what you can do to help them.

Companies shouldn't fear the negative comment. They should embrace it. If people are worked up enough about your product to write negatively about it online, chances are they will be listening to you explain how you will right a wrong.