Imagine being a blogger living in a place that requires you to register with the government (if you’re a blogger). Well, if you live in Malaysia this scenario may actually play out. According to an article on techdirt Malaysia tried to increase tourism with a social media campaign that involved inviting a bunch or journalists to come visit and write about Malaysia. As you probably may have guessed, one of the journalists wrote about her unpleasant experience in Malaysia which caused the tourism minister of Malaysia to blow his top.
According to the techdirt article:
“He claimed that anyone who quoted a blogger would be disgracing themselves. This certainly seems like someone not knowing when to stop digging his own grave. Honestly, the only person disgracing himself has been this particular minister… but the end result loops all the way back around and the Malaysian government wants bloggers to register themselves”
So here we have another classic problem that many large corporations face when trying to get involved in social media…fear. “What if someone says something bad about us?” Well, no big deal. What corporations (and governments) need to learn is that even negative feedback can be turned into something positive by listening to and responding to the complaints that people have. Instead of lashing out against bloggers the Malaysian tourism minister should have listened to what the complaints were and then should have worked to rectify them.
What do you think the best course of action for Malaysia is?
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