When tasked to get a major corporation into the blogosphere a couple months ago, one of my co-workers got me an “easy” button from Staples.
It’s come in handy quite a bit, but it doesn’t solve all my problems…and today, I’m looking to you for advice.
Well we’ve been doing the blog thing for a few weeks now, and it’s starting to pickup around the office.
And, next week I’ll be hosting a big blogging workshop at Delta HQ to bring more employees into the world of blogging.
My goal is to bring you more of the content you want and at a greater frequency. We want our blog to be interactive, meaningful, and fun. It’s about real people and real conversations.
I’ve also been keeping up with the buzz out in the blogosphere. You’ve asked for our blog to be more organic and more real, and we hear you and are working on it…
So let me pick your brain for a second about how we moderate this experience.
Some of our readers have told us they hope we maintain the reader comments so it’s not a treasure trove of personal gripes, and others have said we need to let more of the negative comments through…
Well, let me ask you, how do you want us to moderate this blog?
I really look forward to this discussion and appreciate your input.
Jacob Morris
Product Manager
delta.com & self-service
P.S. Oh, and a side note…some of you are providing really good comments, but sometimes have swear words, which get filtered out (and we don’t manually edit), so try to keep the comments swearword-free. Thx!
ShareThis
September 18th, 2007 at 1:56 pm
I think blogs, even (especially) company ones, should display all comments, including negative ones. Otherwise, all you’re doing is posting the company’s side, there’s no discussion, and you might as well stick to press releases.
If you are going to be training people, there should probably be a written-up list of standards for what comments can stay and what should go so that there is a policy everyone refers to. Then if there is a questionable comment, refer to the policy, and no one is censored for unqualified reasons.
September 18th, 2007 at 2:32 pm
This blog should be open to any comments that an individual feels is relevant with the exception of vulgarity and personal attacks on private behavior. After that it should be open to all points of view on any path the topics take. Let it be known than any entry with personal attacks or vulgarity will be deleted in their entirety and that the user will be excluded from the blog.
September 18th, 2007 at 3:55 pm
It would be nice to also see some comments by DL front-line employees, maybe some members of the corporate Chairman’s Circle.
September 18th, 2007 at 3:57 pm
Constructive criticism should be allowed. However, no criticism without recommendations for a solution should be allowed. The “Delta sucks,” or “Delta caused me to miss my wedding,” etc. comments should not be posted. Comments related to bad service and a way to improve it should be posted.
September 18th, 2007 at 3:57 pm
I agree with “Odd Lot”. Vulgarity is completely unacceptable, as are ad hominem attacks on other commenters or bloggers. Otherwise, I think blogs should be pretty organic.
September 18th, 2007 at 4:56 pm
I would emphasize that Delta bloggers continue to keep it real. Companies with blogs walk a fine line. They can offer real insight into the company. But they can also turn into an arm of the company’s public relations, with no real interaction or information. Overall, the posts from employees have been pretty good, but a few have been a bit clunky and not very informative. You should show your potential bloggers some examples of good posts on the Delta site and other airline/aviation/travel related sites. Some of the good ones were Chris Babb explaining the inflight entertainment, Smita on the new drink, Julie on Getaways and Josh on self service. And please - try and talk a pilot into joining the Delta blogosphere!! I wish you luck, and keep up the good work!!
September 18th, 2007 at 7:12 pm
[...] surprisingly simple (but also quite tricky) question, that Jacob Morris asks over at Delta’s new [...]
September 18th, 2007 at 9:38 pm
As many have said the obvious and obnoxious should be omitted, however some feel the need to vent in a civil manner and turn to the blog as a way to get their concerns across. Lastly responding to the feedback posted is critical, there has been some great participation in follow up feedback by Delta Staff, it needs to be kept going.
September 18th, 2007 at 10:18 pm
Hi Jacob,
First let me say, as I stated on an earlier reply, I am pleased to see Delta use technology like Blogs to reach out to their customers… direct and timely interaction with your customers is truly a hallmark of leadership companies… so, this is fantastic!!
Interesting question in terms of how to moderate a blog. Couple of quick thoughts:
Obviously this is a public forum, and also reflects on Delta Air Lines. Therefore, of course you have to edit out inappropriate language.
As previously stated, I believe it is a good practice to retain the reader’s comments, both positive and negative - as long as they are constructive. It is the combination of both that I hope will shape the future direction of Delta that is aligned with customer needs.
I believe it is a positive thing to have the author of the orginial topic respond to the feedback in the blog. Seeing the replies makes this forum interactive and will most likely provide an incentive for people to continue to read the Blogs and provide their feedback.
I like the topic focus of the items in the blog, and it is important to keep the responses and comments “on topic” to make them meaningful and relevant.
Good work here from the Delta team… keep it going!!
September 19th, 2007 at 12:46 pm
I just came across your blog and I think your site can be best described as “floating through the blogosphere”. Its purpose and audience are not clear, and thus guidelines for the type of comments that would be useful or appropriate are difficult to discern. I would spend some time looking into why successful blogs are successful, the traits that they share, and then begin to make your space a more meaningful tool for communication. Is this the place I come to get travel tips from Delta? To get gossip on new routes that might be opening up? To complain about poor service? To comment on Delta’s wine selection? Without focus, why would anyone (outside of Delta Corporation) subscribe to your RSS feed?
September 19th, 2007 at 2:31 pm
I think Odd Lot has it right here. Relevance is the key. You have to include both positive and negative comments or your credibility will disappear, but if they aren’t relevant, then nobody will read the comments at all. It’s just like YouTube. Most comments are completely ridiculous so good comments end up getting overlooked.
Remember that even positive comments have to be relevant. Otherwise people think employees are posting to puff up the company’s reputation.
It’s certainly a tough decision. The more you moderate comments, the more unlikely you are to get them. Remember that it’s important to approve comments quickly. A long lag time makes people not want to write again.
On my blog, I tend to approve anything that isn’t obvious spam, but that’s very different than what I’d do on a corporate blog. Airlines are lightning rods for complaints, so any opportunity you give people to yell at you, they’ll take. This isn’t the right place for that. Make it clear to them by putting a link to your Email page before people submit a comment.
September 19th, 2007 at 2:41 pm
I agree with others that all comments should be allowed with the exception of those using profanity. The firm will have a much better idea of who the readership of the blog is and how passionately or not they feel about any given issue. If any particular commenter is consistantly posting personal attacks or profanity, that person can always be banned from commenting.
On a side note…Jacob is HOT!! More pictures please!!
September 19th, 2007 at 3:40 pm
Ciao Jacob,
I concur with Odd Lot that all comments should be allowed with profanity cut out.
On a separate note I want to recognize MCO based Flight Attendants on DL 989 from ATL – PHX today, 12 June 2007. From boarding the flight until after our arrival in PHX [Employee Names] provided your customers with exceptional and gracious customer service. Albert, Kimberly and Quynn were greeting the boarding passengers and, sitting in seat 18D, I was able to observe that their attitude remained as warm and congenial from when I boarded throughout the flight. When the APU went down they quickly took advantage of the situation by provided the safety briefing verbally and pointing out what the emergency lights look like in an emergency. They kept us informed when the entertainment system went down and later when the satellite system wasn’t functioning properly. Their interaction with your customers was professional yet humorous and helped make the long flight much more enjoyable. [Employee Names] demonstrated an honest caring for your customers and the well being of Delta Air Lines on this flight. They have set a very high standard of customer service for their peers to emulate.
I am mentioning this here as I sent an email and letter to Delta about the GREAT service provided by these four individuals and have not heard back from Delta. I realize it takes time to respond but I find three months with no reply or acknowledgement to be excessive.
September 20th, 2007 at 11:05 am
Wow, this is awesome feedback! Thanks so much!
Okay, so here’s the scoop. Right now, we’ve been publishing most of the comments that have been both positive and negative (and even the not-so-friendly and non-constructive negatives too).
However, there are some comments that have not been published, and let me share with you the themes were seeing with those… they’re fitting into two groups…
1) Obscene or profane
2) Highly-detailed, frustrated travel rants that are not related to the blog article or the dialogue therein
And based on what I’m reading from you guys, for the most part, these comments would not be appropriate or relevant…and I agree.
If someone has experienced a specific service failure that we need to make right, then the appropriate channels need to be worked through.
We are about to integrate the blog in the next coming weeks on the homepage of delta.com, so traffic and participation is going to pick up…
I’m careful not to saturate the blog experience with irrelevant personal issues because it would quickly clutter the meaningful and constructive dialogue…and if I’m hearing you correctly, I think that’s what you guys want right?
I feel like we’re koom-bi-ya-ing. Let’s sit in a harmony circle!
Jacob Morris
Product Manager
delta.com & self-service
September 23rd, 2007 at 7:42 pm
I’d add that there’s no room for either profanity or personal attacks. But some of those complaints you’re gtting may, indeed, be reflective of a larger problem.
So, perhaps, where you see a consistent problem popping up, you may wish to post one as representative of the challenge — along Dl’s response or POV. That gives us a broader sense of what is going on, and either how DL is taking steps to change, or why the problem is one that we may have to accept being around for a while.
Oh, and as someone who is a lousy typist, fixing egregious typos would probably be a plus for everyone
September 24th, 2007 at 1:33 pm
I think you’ve got it right, Jacob. One thing that I’d like to emphasize - when you receive complaints in comments, make sure that somebody responds! Even if you don’t post them, it’s a customer who has been wronged and that should be addressed quickly. Even some of the most mean-spirited, angry, and non-fixable complaints should at least get a response saying that it has been forwarded to the right department.
I would also disagree with royal-jet-service about fixing typos. As a commenter, I want to know that my comments are getting through unedited. Even though fixing typos isn’t a big thing, it makes me wonder what else you’ve changed. Just approve or disapprove as they come in and leave it at that.
September 25th, 2007 at 11:02 pm
Jacob,
I was wondering why it is so hard to locate code share flights on delta.com. as an example there are some options for code share from IAH to LAX but i can only book those through a reservation agent. Is there a reason for this? i believe that we should be shown all available options when it comes to available flights.
rortizpuig
October 2nd, 2007 at 8:10 pm
Jacob, I agree with folks saying that keeping customer comments — and making them visible to the rest of us, unless they’re inappropriate in language or concept (the highly detailed, your good example) — is important. As I get it, a lot of this initiative you and Josh Weiss have put together is about some transparency for customers, and for the company. To me, that means showing us/telling us what’s being said.
Here’s one I’d like an answer to: Why can’t we order replacement Medallion luggage tags when our current ones are lost/broken/eaten in transit? I’m Platinum, meaning that my tags have more miles than most in which to get chewed up. And yet it’s impossible to get replacements (at least until your renewal set comes the following year). I’m willing to pay something sensible, in fact, for replacements. Any idea why this is such a definitive “no” when we ask about it?
Thanks, and thanks for the bloggery, it’s pretty not bad.
October 3rd, 2007 at 10:21 am
Jacob, If possible can you set up a blog for job seekers. Granted I know human resources is overburden at times with applications I would really like to discuss a career opportunty with Delta. I have applied for various postions with delta and have received only automated responses. Thank you for the opportunity to blog. Good luck!
January 2nd, 2008 at 10:03 am
The blog is a great idea. As stated post negative and positive things from customers. The important thing is that those reponsible for the areas of business are receiving the feedback from customers, both positive and negative and that they take these comments into serious consideration in making their business plans and changes. For instance, I have long posted comments on Delta.com but always got some standard answer that rarely addressed the issue or that I felt the comment would effect any change in the Delta system. It was more of a “get it off my chest” feeling if I had a bad issue on a flight or whatever, rather than believing that the comment would make a difference in the long-term. Not every negative comment or suggestion can be incorporated as a “fix”. Some may be too expensive or not affect enough people, but some are great ideas to help make Delta the best airline in the industry. And also, many comments can make us better customers and travelers by learning some pitfalls. After all, every problem is not always Delta’s, sometimes we customers can cause them by our own errors, and we as customers can be better as well as our vendor (Delta), so I believe this works both ways. Getting nasty with a gate agent who can’t affect the weather or a mechanical problem, for example, doesn’t help anybody, yet I see it all too frequently. Instead of giving her/him a load of your mind, how about simply asking “what are my options” and empower them to help you instead of making them feel like a total jerk? Some good information to consumers from Delta on how to deal with these situations could be very helpful to make customers understand how best to deal with “the system”.