Dealing with Negative Comments Online

SOCIAL MEDIA

Over the last five years, school districts have found themselves in the middle of social media firestorms. When faced with public criticism, do we engage or do we retreat?

It may be tempting to ignore the chatter. After all, who can keep up with social media? But here’s the truth: Closing off communication, ignoring concerns or avoiding tough conversations rarely builds trust. It creates more critics, distance and division.

Jim Lukaszewski, known as “America’s crisis guru,” offers simple advice: Keep the lines of communication open, build relationships and seek common ground. In our small school community in Minnesota, we took this advice seriously, and we’ve seen an 80 percent reduction in complaints about the district in online discussion groups.