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176 P a r t I I I Managing Your YouTube Videos

If you decide to respond to a negative comment, a few things to keep in mind. First,
speed is of the essence. There’s no point responding to comments made a month or
two ago; you need to jump in while the conversation is fresh. This shows that you
take viewer comments seriously enough to respond quickly.

You also need to respond positively, even to the most negative comments. Don’t be
defensive, and certainly don’t be offensive; don’t resort to name-calling or other
insults. You need to be the adult in what might otherwise be a childish situation. Be
professional, be calm, be cool, be collected. Don’t let yourself get angry.

But don’t be so calm cool and collected that you come off as being a PR flack. Yes,
you probably should toe the company line, but you also have to genuinely respond
to comments, on a personal basis. Admit to mistakes, if there are any. Offer help or
advice, if any is to be given. Be sympathetic. Apologize. (You’d be surprised how far
a genuine “I’m sorry for your problems” will go.)

There’s a certain amount of acceptance involved in all this. You simply can’t control
what people say about you, no matter how much you (or upper management)
might like to. You’re always going to have some people saying bad things about your
company, your products, and even your people. You can’t take it personally. You
have to accept that negative comments exist, and learn to live with it. A thick skin is
a must, but it also helps to develop an understanding of how people use the
Internet to amplify their petty (and more-than-petty) complaints. Remember, as a
company, you are a lot bigger than any single complaint or complainer.

Caution

In some cases, your best recourse might be not to respond to a negative
comment. When you enter your reply, you run the risk of fanning the fires
of a burgeoning flame war, from which neither the disgruntled viewer nor
you might come off looking good. Sometimes the better course of valor is
to just walk away—and respond with silence only.

Fortunately, it’s easy enough to respond to comments on YouTube. Just go to the
video page and scroll down to the comments section under the video window; you
should see a list of all viewer comments. Highlight the comment to which you want
to reply, and then click the Reply button. This displays a reply box, as shown in
Figure 15.7. Enter your reply into this box, and then click the Post button. Your
reply displays directly beneath the comment in question.