What’s the first thing you look at when looking up a new company or restaurant on the Internet? Comments and tips? Images? Directions?
When looking on well known, highly respected websites we trust that the tips are accurate and that they look into any claims of false updates, right? After all, if the comments and tips are on a well known, highly authoritative website then they must be true….. Right?
What happens when you fire an employee and they then enlist an army of Internet commentors to rip your company apart with false acqusations and images not even taken at the venue all because they lost their job. The first thought is to contact the website to see if they can work with you, right? What if they don’t want to help you? What if they say, “Sometimes you have to take the bad with the good” or “it’s a matter of public opinion”? What do you do then?
First thing I did was reply back on Twitter arguing that public opinion and false statements are two totally different things. After that I decided it wasn’t worth wasting any more time on Twitter. If a website is not willing to help businesses manage their brand reputation then why bother… Right, Foursquare? Why bother caring about Mayor or Checkin Specials? Why bother checking in at all and why the hell bother to read any of the tips? When I read tips at a venue, I would honestly have believed that they were all legitimate tips, but this leads me to believe that even with proof of false comments, Foursquare wants to play God.
It’s either that or looking into it and actually taking care of issues is way too much work that this one employee does not want to do. Either way, it’s ridiculous.
This is frustrating considering every other platform reflects nothing, but positive comments and reviews.
How Would You Handle A Situation Like This?
What would you do if you had an ex-employee comment Online with false information simply because they were pissed that they were fired? Maybe we need to start adding that into our contracts we sign when we hire new talent. If these websites aren’t going to help small businesses and companies, perhaps there should be something legally binding between the employee and employer.
Not Everything You Read Is True
and we’ve known this. We know that there is a lot of crap out there, but we now know that Foursquare is not a reliable source for tips, images or comments.
Have you ever experienced this?
Yelp has a similar problem. I often see the same reviewer posting negative reviews across all of the relevant businesses in a specific category to try and mess up the rankings. The businesses then try to get the rankings removed and it spirals out from there.
Steve MZ�´s last [type] ..Comment on 10 inspiring people to follow on Google Plus by Steve Mieczkowski
Oh I haven’t noticed that on Yelp, but now that I know I will keep my eyes open.
Kim, it’s important to note that the @Dayton4sq account on Twitter is run by a fan, NOT foursquare themselves (the bio clearly says it’s an unofficial account). Only @4sqsupport can give you an official company response.
I’m a little puzzled by your assertion that “every other platform reflects nothing, but positive comments and reviews.” While business owners would clearly love this, I expect any platform I visit to include both positive and negative comments about a business, and I think most users would fall into that camp. Without negative comments, how are we to judge which places are good and which are bad based on roses and sunshine?
First of all, I understand that that account is not officially related to Foursquare. Second, I based my final opinion on, not only that accounts Tweets, but on Foursquares lack of support, response and/ or care. It was a MONTH… Yes, a month before I ever heard from their official account and after that they then realized that the comments were fabricated and took them down. I understand the difference between real and fake and also understand the importance of having untouched, general public opinions for venues. With that said, taking images off the Internet of disgusting toilets, posting false “dirty dining and health department violation codes” and enlisting friends to follow suit because you chose to not show up for work and got fired, that I do not understand and that will not be tolerated. THAT is something I will fight for, not just for clients, but also for other businesses dealing with the same. If Foursquare was in this company’s position, they would have felt the same. Moral of my response, just as positive reviews are fabricated, so are negative ones and thankfully Foursquare eventually worked with me.