by Olivia Collins

As a teenager in 2014, social media is a huge part of my life. Whether or not my age group likes to admit it, social media dominates our existence. However, sites can gain and lose popularity at the drop of a dime if they don’t keep up with the ways we prefer to communicate. I’ve picked out a few of my current favorite and least favorite sites to share.

​Rebuilding trust

If you’re getting a lot of hate online, one of these scenarios might seem familiar:

• You were rude to somebody in an email, and they circulated it online.
• You retweeted something distasteful.
• You fed the trolls on Facebook.
• You inadvertently said something offensive.
• You left yourself signed into social media in a public place, like the Apple store or a hotel lobby, and somebody had some fun at your expense.
• Your website had a security breach.
• One of your employees has been ignoring your social media policy.
• Somebody has filed a lawsuit against you.

Issuing an apology isn’t going to make everybody forget about what happened. As a business, you need to redeem yourself by proving that what you did wrong was a one-off, and that you are still worth your customers' time  —  and their money.

Unfortunately, it takes time to rebuild that trust. There’s no instant fix: but, through consistently professional behavior, you will get past it. And in the mean time? Be patient.

The waiting game

It’s difficult to stay positive when half your followers seem angry and the other half seem to be laughing at you. However bad things are, it’s important to redirect the conversation surrounding your brand. Let people be negative, but don’t get drawn into it — if you’ve said sorry, it’s time to act positive, even when you don’t feel that way. Here’s how:

• Only apologize once.
• Act like it didn’t happen — learn from your mistakes, but don’t dwell on them.
• Focus on customer service. This is one of the fastest ways of rebuilding customer confidence.
• Be completely transparent. Otherwise, customers may suspect you’re hiding additional bad behavior.
• Put your energy into the things you have a good reputation for —  it's easier to generate positive conversation here.
• If your actions have made people feel bad, it’s time to make people feel good: upbeat posts, interesting links, and coupons.
• Don’t act guilty, or people will keep treating you like you're guilty.
• Build trust from the inside. Your employees need reassuring, too.
• Be patient! This WILL take time.

Next week, we’ll talk about moving forward: how you can speed up the “forgetting” process and draw the attention away from your mistakes. Until then, sign up to Get Ghost Tips to find out how you can supercharge your brand!