Let’s face it, nothing could seem more unifying than despising or hating the same person, all at the same time, and for reasons that have little justification!
After all, wouldn’t hating someone in common be the quickest and most viral way to unite and work together for the same cause?
To understand the feeling of bashing from every point of view, there’s nothing better than immersing yourself in schoolyard memories!
Who doesn’t remember the gossip about Sophie’s parents’ professions, Nicolas’ cheating at the French dictation test or Fanny and Simon’s first kiss?
So many anecdotal subjects at the time that we used to make a big deal of and create a world around… well, “Bashing” is pretty much all that, and we’ve all participated in it in one way or another 😉 !
The playground is far behind us now, and it’s time for “Lynching 2.0”.
For those who are curious (and even for those who aren’t), the term “lynching” comes from an American judge named Charles Lynch, who, during the Revolutionary War, had the task of identifying people suspected of treason.
The latter were then beaten to death by a frenzied crowd…!
If we were initially faced with a physical judgment (and fortunately we’re not there anymore), on social networks & media, this is done symbolically.
It consists in psychologically striking out to hurt and humiliate someone, or their words, so that they lose credibility.
In 2020, we can therefore give Bashing, (also nicknamed “Shaming”) the following translation “social lynching”, and believe us, it’s not necessarily pretty to watch!
⛔.
Recognizing bashing or trolling:
By the way, be careful not to confuse bashing with trolling, which we talked about a few days ago.
In the case of bashing, we are faced with statements that oppose and aggregate hundreds or even thousands of individuals who have little or nothing in common.
This group effect can give rise to a veritable shambles of insults and vulgarities, where moral behavior is largely out of whack.
As we said in our introduction, what could be more unifying than exerting group pressure on a person (or victim, depending on your point of view) whom you don’t know at all, in the knowledge that, even if they may be hurtful and unfair, the comments will remain purely in the web sphere and will have ephemeral visibility?
In today’s tourism industry, many players have already been put to the test by the phenomenon of bashing.
Hate speech can take many forms and be more or less well-founded.
One customer can create a snowball effect, encouraging other disgruntled customers to express their dissatisfaction on all your virtual media (although some may take the action to the extreme by transposing their insults into the physical world).
Carriers such as airlines and cruise lines, meanwhile, can find themselves rubbing shoulders with more controversial subjects such as ecology and carbon footprints.
It’s not uncommon to find activists on social networks who don’t hesitate to place all the world’s unhappiness on the shoulders of these service providers.
Other tour operators specializing in safaris or diving can be the bête noire of wildlife lovers!
So, as we keep saying, it’s essential to keep an eye on your social networks.
This allows you to keep an eye on open discussions on your profile, your Facebook feed, not forgetting the part of the “community” tab that allows interaction between subscribers and where you can be challenged in the form of a tag.
Your Facebook inbox also needs to be treated with care, so as to calm things down in the face of group movements.
We can only advise you to identify opinion leaders and contact them by private message to ask them more precisely what their expectations are.
Bashing can affect your brand, yes, but it can also affect some of your service providers who, depending on the nature of the comments made, can also affect you, your brand image and your reputation.
The same applies to certain actions that directly affect your brand’s reputation.
Collaborating with an influencer who has been the victim of bashing because of an inappropriate comment or photo, or simply because of their lifestyle and the people they associate with, could be detrimental to your brand.
That’s why we advise you to meticulously analyze the profiles of any influencers you may wish to engage in the future.
Every press trip or blogtrip requires a detailed profile of the participants, in order to anticipate the impact required, as well as any dissatisfaction that might arise between your brand’s community and the discourse of those who speak on your behalf.
This is where the role of a digital agency specialized in social networking and influencer marketing comes in.
Media lynching of influencers can be powerful, and serves as a way for a group to send a signal about what it thinks is acceptable or not.
In a way, it’s a regulator of mores.
The problem with the web is that individuals lose the notion of feedback and consequence, inhibitions are lost and the sense of responsibility diminishes.
In short, networks don’t bring out the best in people!
What can be done about bashing on social networks?
From a practical point of view, we can only advise you to stay on your guard and keep a daily watch on your networks and media.
Some tools allow you to centralize all your notifications and comments received on all your media on a single interface.
Most of these tools are available as annual or monthly subscriptions, and are well worth a budget if you want to keep your e-reputation under control.
Secondly, it’s more than necessary to be able to put aside your emotional sensitivity, especially when comments are directly addressed to you, your attitude or your looks.
It’s natural to react emotionally, but you’ll have to do everything you can to avoid letting it show.
Playing the game of negativity and defensiveness will only reinforce your vulnerability and further fuel the chain reaction of your detractors.
It’s best to start from the premise that there will always be people out there who don’t care, and that some of them may be frustrated customers.
It’s to this type of profile that you’ll need to devote your time and propose compensatory solutions.
This is also an opportunity to move your customer service department to improve and enhance the experience.
And finally, one of the best ways to avoid bashing is to be vigilant.
Do you know the expression “turn your tongue seven times in your mouth before speaking”?
Well, put it into practice right now, because an inappropriate word can get you into big trouble.
Put on gloves, use tweezers and make sure you never get into anything too heated.
Feel like making a joke?
Think twice before you publish it, because neither political nor TV personalities are going to contradict us 😉.
