BLUE GLASS BLOG — Ever since Facebook has introduced the new type of pages "Community pages" there has been plenty of talking around them: Facebook has been actively criticized for threatening brands that are building presence in the network. First let’s briefly and clearly define what community page really is. The Facebook Community Page is meant to be the collection of knowledge around some concept, phenomenon or aspect of life. What makes it dangerous for brands is that those aspects of life can be popular brands as well...

BLAISE GRIMES-VIORT — There’s a general consensus nowadays that pro-actively moderating your community space is either tantamount to limiting free speech, a waste of valuable resource or legally unwise. Having worked in organisations that advocated reactive moderation as opposed to some form of pro-active monitoring of their community content, there are definitely situations in which it is the most suitable form of moderation. Maybe your legal position is safer with a hands off approach, or your community has a strong enough culture to enforce your rules of use themselves. When it comes to Facebook however, you are not provided with tools with which your community can report issues to you directly...

BUSINESSWEEK — Natalie Malaszenko has always loved pets. A 31-year-old resident of San Diego, Calif., she has a dog named Sarge and a cat named Leo. Years ago, when she lived in Texas, she took care of cows and horses and even a stray emu. In recent months, however, since beginning a full-time job at the pet retailer Petco, she has taken on the additional responsibility of tending to a breed of notoriously unruly carnivores, capable of scaring off even the most patient caregiver -- namely, online commenters. So far, Malaszenko says she loves them, too. Earlier this year, Petco executives appointed Malaszenko to a new -- and trendy -- job: director of social media and commerce. Across the country, companies like Petco are going through a two-step process...

BRANDSAVANT — Karl Harvard posted a provocative article this week on Econsultancy entitled "Social Media Monitoring: Time To Say ‘Sod It’?" (for my non-Anglophile friends, "sod it" is a nicer way of saying "F@%k it." Just so you know.) His contention: as more and more people join the social web, the task of monitoring and responding will become more and more onerous, and ultimately unscalable. After all, how many conversations can you possibly have at once? At what point does responding to "everything" become unsustainable?...

SOCIAL MEDIA EXPLORER — Dealing with detractors is perhaps one of the biggest pain points for companies just starting and even well entrenched in social media marketing. "What if someone says something bad about our company?" is often asked by brand managers, executives and more when opening their websites or even Facebook pages to conversations and interactions with consumers. There are many examples of companies engaging detractors that can illustrate why you don’t have to be quite as worried about the complainers and combatants as you think. But only through experience can you develop your own tested processes of handling the various types of detractors. Having advised a number of companies on how to deal with the negative online, plus having to dig myself out of a few incidents where my sense of humor has gotten the best of my sense of decorum, here are the six steps I take in dealing with detractors...