When social media feedback turns toxic

Customers need to know when its the right time to air their gripes

A STORY doing the rounds this week highlights the negative impact social media can have.

A cafe owner in Brisbane responded to a would-be customer who made the suggestion that the cafe should have high-chairs to be more family-friendly.

The owner explained the size of the cafe and previous safety issues meant they could not have them.

The exchange spiralled in to name calling and resulted in the customer posting parts of the conversation to social media.

The only issue being, the exchange in its entirety wasn't posted, omitting some important information that may have told the whole story.

All of a sudden you have a husband and wife trying to run a small business, thrust into the spotlight with demands of "please explain" by people who have never set foot in the door of the cafe.

Here, one of the café owners explains why they fight back.

When did we start to need to air all of our dirty laundry in public? At what point did it become okay to publicly shame people based off one encounter or second-hand information?

People should be able to let businesses know if they aren't up to scratch and business owners should take that feedback graciously.

But we should all learn to walk away from unproductive social media exchanges and unless there is a genuine public interest, keep them to ourselves.