Amy’s Baking Company: Lessons For Community Managers
There are no lessons to learn from this situation. Thank you.
Seriously. There are no lessons to learn here. Years ago, I grew tired of what I refer to as “case study culture,” where people in social media circles, of which I’ll lump online community circles, feel the need to make every single negative situation that blows up into some sort of case study. It may be a good way to get people to pay attention to them, but there are rarely any actual new lessons learned.
I use case studies sparingly, so as to actually have some meaning. There is literally no lesson that could be learned from this situation that has not been learned over and over and over again previously.
Don’t argue with trolls? We’ve learned that one. Decades ago. Don’t post while angry? Take a deep breath and some time to formulate a measured response? We’ve learned that one. If you’ve done something wrong, get in front of it by admitting it and taking responsibility? We’ve learned that one. Don’t say anything you wouldn’t say to your mother/grandmother/to someone’s face? We’ve learned that. Don’t personally attack critics? Yes. Anything else that may be construed as a lesson? Yes, we’ve learned that, as well.
And yes, I realize that the best advice is that which is considered common sense, but common sense is only common if you know it. I don’t mean to say that we can’t talk about the same lessons over and over again and still help people (I do it all the time, I know). Also, case studies can provide an interesting narrative for those lessons. I get that. I just tire of some people using every situation like this to talk about the same stuff, over and over again. At that point, is it about helping people or is it just about traffic?
Whatever it is, whether the owners of the restaurant posted the comments or if they were hacked, there is nothing here that we have not learned before at numerous points over and over again. Let’s not make more of this than it is. It is just a random stream of awkward, nasty comments posted on the internet. Laugh about it, if you want, but don’t use it as some sort of serious business case study. Thank you.
