Social media has many advantages for the entrepreneur. It’s a cost-effective way to reach large numbers of potential customers and can be a key element in building a brand. Online stores can be a huge advantage to sellers who wish to bypass the traditional bricks and mortar channels. However, there is a dark side to the Internet and entrepreneurs must be ever mindful of how it can rear up and bite us at any given moment.

We experienced the “dark side” on a small rural apartment community. Our maintenance technician had a serious health issue that took him out of action. After several weeks he informed us that he would not be able to return to work. During his absence, we were covering the property with a maintenance technician from a property in another town, 42 miles away. The on-site property manager was also located in another town and traveled between three properties within this 42-mile radius. Unfortunately, there were some maintenance items that were slow to be resolved as well as a lack of adequate communications with the residents. There’s no question, we dropped the ball with these issues.

One day while visiting my LinkedIn page, I noticed that a woman had “flamed” me and our company. Apparently, she was the daughter of one of the residents of the apartment property previously mentioned. She made several allegations in her post that were incorrect. Threats were made to contact the state housing agency. But here’s the kicker. Never once did she attempt to reach out directly to me and make me aware of the issues. Instead she simply offered her inflammatory post for all to see. Several individuals (they must have been her LinkedIn connections) jumped on the bandwagon. One person wrote, “horrible.” Another wrote, “What a disgrace!” Still another posted, “Just awful! I hope this post results in his immediate actions and corrections.”

I posted a brief explanation of the situation along with a full apology for what had transpired. I tip my hat to one individual who wrote, “Before you plastered this on this Internet, have you contacted Lee Harris directly? The man has had this business for 44 years . . . hard to believe there isn’t a back story to these issues.” I am most appreciative that this gentleman offered this comment. While the mob mentality was in full mode, at least there was a single voice of reason.

The danger of social media is quite evident in this experience. The daughter of our resident decided for reasons unknown, that she would rather attempt to shame (and flame) us on LinkedIn than to contact me directly. She published inaccurate (and untrue) information on a public forum. She found my LinkedIn page and could easily have called or e-mailed me – but didn’t take that approach. She posted a follow-up response to a comment from one of her connections, “We are now able to articulate the issues and have a direct line with the company – and will be working to create true delivery on brand promises.” Does that seem a little bit smug to you? She could have articulated the issues and had the same direct line with the company had she picked up the phone and called me.

As entrepreneurs, we understand that there are people who literally live their lives on social media. They share everything – large and small – that they encounter. Our businesses are now fishbowls more than ever before. We’ve had people write lousy Google reviews that were well-deserved and correct. And we’ve had disgruntled residents who have been evicted, and team members who were terminated, write ugly reviews posing as upstanding victims. Whether it’s Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter or any of the other social media platforms, there is always a mob ready to pounce and shriek about the purported injustices that are being posted. I wish this wasn’t the way of the world, but it’s a condition we must live with.

Here’s what I have learned. There’s no point in trying to rebut a flamer. A calm response that offers a sincere apology is the most appropriate course of action. Hopefully someone will speak up as a counter to the mob. Most importantly, we must make certain that we are always delivering the highest quality products and services as possible.

This blog is being written in tandem with my book, “An Entrepreneur’s Words to Live By,” available on Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle (My Book), as well as being available in all of the other major eBook formats.