Being Passive Aggressive on Social Media is Bad Business

John Nicol

You don't want to be the playground bully, but are you saying something different? — Andrea Gibson

On the heels of cleaning up a social media mess that recently landed us a client who was in need of some quick assistance, we thought it was a great time to discuss passive aggressive social media use. Everything we're going to tell you we've already told our client, so this is a recounting of how we made things better and what our ongoing strategy document lays out as "the new rules of social media use."

Cryptic Messages

Amongst the most notable elements of passive aggressive material on social media are cryptic messages designed to take a stab at a person or situation. For our client, this was habit. And for many of you reading, it is likely that this falls into the habit category.

What happens when you get cryptic and take jabs is that you look like the weak one, you are the person that looks like there is something to hide or who has something to prove. We do a lot of reading (editorial and academic) about the business practices that we share with you on our blog, one of the articles we came across as we prepped for this blog is found here. We love how it opens:

"Healthy companies are hard to mistake. Their managers have access to good, timely information, the authority to make informed decisions, and the incentives to make them on behalf of the organization, which promptly and capably carries them out. A good term for the healthiest of such organizations is “resilient,” since they can react nimbly to challenges and recover quickly from those they cannot dodge. Unfortunately, most companies are not resilient"

The first thing you are telling people when you take to your social media platform with passive aggressive content is that you are not resilient. Not the kind of reputation you are looking for, and likely entirely opposite the outcome you were hoping for.

You've Been Caught, Don't Deny It

So your passive-aggressive tweet or Facebook post has been called out by the very person you are looking to publicly shame. Do not enter deny mode, you are being seen for what you have demonstrated you are. If you can't call something out to a person it is either not true, it is your opinion or you lack confidence in your position on the matter. So, fess up.

Being real once you've been identified as the culprit of passive aggressive social media use gives you a shred of credibility in a situation you've built all on your own. Take responsibility, and don't get aggressive.

Keeping Your Cool

So you think you're right, and maybe you are. In our client's case they were right, but they didn't look right and public perception matters. In fact, in this case the situation was so silly that being right meant nothing. It was an insecurity thing that got blown way out of proportion and their business suffered at the hands of their unwavering logic that "people would understand if they just knew the whole story." Yeah, people didn't care about the whole story, they cared that true colours were on display and it wasn't pretty.

Cleaning Up

So this is where we came into the picture, the damage had been done and it was time to do some clean-up. Lets mention that clean-up does not mean sweeping something under the rug. Your mom was right when she said that it only leaves more mess to be cleaned up later. Clean up meant coming clean, getting real and publicly rebuilding an image that showcased the strengths of our client. Here is the posting guideline that they are using to slowly rebuild a community that turned against them in a matter of days.

Does this post say anything negative about anyone? If yes, try again.
Does this post say anything sales oriented about my business? If yes, try again.
Does this post offer value in information to my audience? If no, try again.
Does this post position me as a thought leader in my industry? If no, try again.
Does this post showcase the voice of a company that is confident? If no, try again.

That is it. That is what they are working on now. It took substantial work to shake them out of their gimmicky sales shtick, and to pull out some very real and authentic content that matters to their audience. They feel like they are back where they started, but they aren't. They have a long road ahead to be memorable for the right reasons again, and they will be. They are a strong company with a confidence issue in one element of a thriving business, and unfortunately, the rest of their business suffered when they put that on display.

If you are guilty of passive-aggressive social media use, cut the habit and work to demonstrate your value instead. Value equals readership and loyalty, that is what will build your business.