Blog: Crisis Management

How do you handle reputation threats on the increasingly popular site?

As Reddit, the popular website based on user-run communities which determine what content will be prominently displayed and what falls into oblivion, increases in popularity, so does its part in threats to the reputation of organizations around the world.

While coping with negatives on sites like Yelp is well-documented, Reddit is still new to many, so we thought you may find this advice, from a PRDaily article by Whitney Gibson, useful:

Reddit takes the stance that it is not well positioned to arbitrate disputes. It does recommend that a defamed party post the correct information on Reddit to counteract any false information.

“The Reddit community is usually very supportive of such a response and will likely vote to give the correction greater prominence than the original post,” reads Reddit’s FAQ.

In general, this is true and this may be the best solution. Not only does this option have the best chance of lowering the popularity of the original harmful post, but it may also be a good PR tactic. It enables an organization to do damage control and resolve the situation before it gets worse.

If the post is completely false, it does make sense to set the record straight. If it is more of a customer complaint, the best practice often involves demonstrating the appropriate level of sympathy, politely addressing the issue raised, and perhaps asking the poster to call the business to address the complaint. Many businesses respond directly to negative criticism online and on social media to demonstrate they value feedback/criticism and, overall, their customers.

In other words, it’s really not much different than you would do for an issue on any other online platform. Stay honest, stay compassionate, and get out there and resolve the issue where people can see. Left ignored, reputation threats on Reddit can snowball out of control, but handling them properly can actually win you fans in the end.