Archives for September 2013

Why We Sort of Agree with the Air Force

Recently, we took a hard look at the U.S. Air Force’s policy toward responding to web postings.  The document has been floating around for a few years and has been widely covered by online reputation management consultants.  We mainly agree with the assessment with a few exceptions.

The “Air Force Web Posting Response Assessment” is a public domain document/infographic from the Air Force Public Affairs Agency that offers general guidance on how Air Force personnel should respond to web content posted about USAF.  It can be most easily found here: http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Air_Force_Web_Posting_Response

In general, we think it is a useful tool that could provide excellent guidelines for many companies.US_Air_Force_Web_Posting_Response_Assessment

When you come across a positive web posting, the guidelines are quite simple.  If it is factual and well-cited (even if the USAF doesn’t agree with it), then the guidance is to either let it stand (no response), concur with the post or provide a positive review.

When a posting is not positive or balanced, things get a little stickier.  According to USAF, there are four types of folks who post negatively.

• Trolls – a site dedicated to bashing or degrading others.  USAF says to only monitor such sites and notify headquarters (we will come back to this nuance.)Read more