Versace got their social media activities wrong the other day which resulted in an interesting uprising on Facebook. They removed the ability for Fans to post to their Facebook Wall after allowing them free access to post.
Fans had been complaining about sandblasting jeans which can result in the worker inhaling silica dust. Several deaths have been reported as a result of this activity according to Mashable.
Fans can still add comments to posts by the brand, but can no longer create their own posts and post them. There has been an outcry at the removal of permissions and deletion of posts. Remember the outcry over Nestle last year? Greenpeace bombarded the Facebook page with posts complaining about the company's use of Palm oil. The issue wasn't that people were being prevented from posting - rather that posts were being deleted. Privileges were taken away that used to exist for Facebook fans
It's really simple to set appropriate permissions right at the start on your Facebook Page. Its as simple as setting the appropriate check box.
But brands, desperate for engagement with their customers, often don't think of the backlash that can occur if previously allowed actions are taken away.
This would have been so simple to avoid, had Versace thought through the impact of allowing something - then taking it away.
Getting your plans, strategy and settings right first time can go a long way to avoiding issues like these.
And brands like Versace, with a little more planning could have avoided this crisis completely.
Shame...