Dealing with Quasi-Spam

Posted by in Social Media | 2 comments

As a Community Manager for a large brand on Facebook, it’s commonplace to deal with Spam Comments and indeed Spam Wall Posts. The  nice thing about most Spam is that it’s so obviously Spam that there is no question in your mind.

But what happens when the spam takes on a more personal tone? Indeed, what is a community manager to do when spam is mixed with recognition of your own social initiatives?

Now, I don’t think it would be kosher of me to display any examples. But I can say that the “spammer” is not your typical faceless profile, but instead belongs to what seems to be a normal person who feels that they’ve stumbled upon a great way to get their business out there. But the reality is that their post likely won’t be seen by many people, and those that see it probably don’t even live in the Business’ area. So what real harm is it if I delete the post?

Then again, this person may very well be a loyal consumer, who’s simply attempting to gain a similar level of publicity from the advocacy they’re giving. And deleting their post may only anger that individual unnecessarily, because as I just said, few will ever even see that post.

What’s a Community Manager to do? I feel a distinct desire to put community engagement beyond minor brand inconvenience. But in a world where micro-management and pseudo-social media skills are rampant, that decision may very well bring one into conflict with the Brand one represents.

It’s a sticky situation that lives in a grey area of Social Ethics. Anyone else out there dealt with these issues? Share your experiences in the comments.

 Creator of GyroPulse and Co-Founder of The Gyronauts. Social Media Manager at Saatchi NY. Loving the Hoop since 2006. Loving the Poi since 2007. Loving the Burn since 2007 More from this author

  • http://www.specialtyleds.com keith

    Hi Sean,

    Thanks for posting this.

    As an individual, there is no doubt that one person alone has a difficult time putting themselves out there. I, myself, am one such person. To put myself out there requires trying, and well honestly, I think we can all agree that there is no harm in trying.

    There’s no conflict if what the person is stating is 100% true, but who’s to say whether or not it is the truth?

    Everyone has to start somewhere.

    I am confused when you talk about

    micro-management and pseudo-social media skills are rampant

    and

    I am confused when you talk about

    It’s a sticky situation that lives in a grey area of Social Ethics

    -but I do want to listen to more you have to say about this.

    • Sean

      Long time no blog for me! Lol. Busy busy….

      But Keith, as per your comments, the micro-management and pseudo social skills I’m referring to stem from the possibility of dealing with Brands or Teams that like to get involved (which is entirely understandable), and have a distinct opinion on a matter. Yet, their expertise comes solely from the personal experience on social media, which is to say it’s casual. But in terms of digital fluency, they are sometimes not up to speed.

      Take spam posts like “this girl DIED, share with 10 friends or you will have the worst day ever”. I see that, and delete it. But if even one post of that nature evades my notice and someone without enough knowledge of digital sees it, they say “Oh my god! What is this stuff? Why are people talking about dead girls on our page? This is insane! Our page is out of control!” Obviously it’s a post by some high school kid. And obviously it means absolutely nothing. But to the untrained eye, it might as well be a Nigerian Prince asking for startup funds.

      That, mixed with certain types of “grey area” engagement lead to awkward moments. I am a firm believer in not censoring a page. If people curse or spew hateful comments about the brand, that’s their opinion. It’s also free speech. Just because I have a delete button does not mean I should use it every time I see something I disagree with. Also, the post in question above was a nice comment about our brand, followed by a photo of her repping her company. Now obviously that’s spammy. But do I delete it? I was an honest interaction, coupled with less than ethical product placement. To me, that’s grey area.

      Anyway, give me a holler if you want to chat! I know you guys emailed me a while back, but as you can imagine, it’s been busy for me. Facebook messages work best for me. Just search Sean Stogner, and I’m the guy with the bright shoes.

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