Since the launch of CNW’s Social Media Release a few weeks ago, I’ve often been asked if including comments on the body of a release are a good idea, and if people should opt for them.
Comments are a great tool. If people react to your release in a positive manner, this could be reflected in the comments they leave, supportive of your brand or message.
However, there is the chance that someone will react negatively to your announcement. The fear of them leaving a critical or otherwise nasty comment is what is driving the uncertainty about using comments on a release.
Rather than being seen as a threat, I think that the negative comment should be seen as an opportunity. If one person is critical of your announcement. When they leave a negative comment, you have the chance to respond directly after it and in an official capacity. In a release without comments enabled, unhappy visitors might vocalize their feelings elsewhere, in places you can’t reach or might not be aware of. Further visitors to the release who might also be harboring the same feelings might read your response and be swayed.
-Parker
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Parker, I like the idea of comments too and I’m thinking about a couple of the red flags. For one, what do you think about having a comment policy for SMPRs? I was looking at a newsroom using SMPRs and the comments were nothing but spam.
I totally agree with a comment policy and think that some simple moderation or spam catcher should keep the newsroom or release spam free.
The fact that you saw some shows that the owner of that newsroom doesn’t really pay attention to the visitors to their site if their letting their comment area fill up with spam.
Agreed but I’m surprised that company isn’t monitoring. I don’t want to out them but I’m curious to learn their reasoning. I may ask them directly. It looks sloppy and may detract others with something of value to add from commenting.