Social Media : What's fair?

[Crow]

I never take my grievances to social network sites unless it was something abhorrent that I think its worth others knowing, but only if I can provide evidence at the same time otherwise it will be to the relevant authorities to investigate.

Sometimes I just think certain people are pathetic, petty and so narrow minded they miss so many other factors involved before spouting hate against a business or person, I have no time for them and their opinions, I will experience something for myself before I impart judgment.

With the image DJ displayed I am totally on the side of the manager, its a business not a social area. If a social environment in a business is making money then fantastic but if its full of people using it for other means than to acquire consumables kick them out. If I was the manager of a coffee shop and seeing all tables secured by individuals with laptops and a drink they have been nursing for the last 3 hours would really piss me off, a managers duty is to ensure that all targets are being met and if they see a problem then they need to take initiative and act upon it . On the other hand to stop people using it entirely for a place to grab internet access would be silly as the coffee shop can be a perfect place to take a proper look at an email and a thorough response whilst getting 5 mins for a drink and something to eat if you are on the move. One thing the manager could do is set up a code for when people spend over a certain amount that would allow the individuals access to the internet for an hour.

[Asmodean]

With the image DJ displayed I am totally on the side of the manager

Indeed. Handing out a few notes in a discreet manner in order to prevent his establishment from looking like a campus library is a good way of dealing with the problem.

After all, it's not like he's been chasing people out with a wet and dirty broom. Where I worked before, we had a "Reserved for paying customers" notice on every table, and not a single sober and/or relatively sane person has ever complained. For the rest, there was always The Broom(tm).

[Tank]

Here's another question: if that picture showed up in your Facebook or Twitter feed, would you re-send it? or would you hesitate because you didn't know the whole story/context behind the letter?

I wouldn't forward it as I wouldn't know the context and if I did I'm still not sure if I would.

[Ali]

I'm actually quite surprised that the owner is complaining that people are buying a drink and then hanging out or studying.  I've honestly never been to a (good) coffee shop where people *don't* buy a drink, then hang out, study, et cetera.  I spent my first two years of college working at a coffee shop in a smallish college town, and the owner actually encouraged people to come and hang out in his shop by offering "Study Group" specials and having board games and card games on hand that people could borrow.  As a result, it was one of the busiest and most popular shops in town.  The thing about coffee is that it doesn't take big tables.  If you have a coffee shop, you can put in a lot of small tables and also benches, couches, lots of seating that doesn't really have a table attached, and most people can still drink their coffee in comfort.  Or, if there is no place to sit, you can easily take your coffee to go.  True, some people order food and would like a table, but at least in our shop most of the food was also portable (muffins, bagels, pastries) that don't totally require a table either.  I don't know, I guess I just feel like the owner of the coffee shop is trying to fight against coffee shop culture and would probably be better off owning a different kind of cafe. 

[Whitney]

For some context, the debate is about this image ( I posted it in the "what's on your mind", but I guess I should put it here, too):

It was created and given to a handful of customers by the manager.

That particular example is a case of a business manager having absolutely no PR skills.  The consequence of ignoring the appropriate methods for encouraging customers to act a certain way is that they might say something not nice about the business to their friends (and the method for doing so may be facebook, twitter etc).  If a customer is treated poorly or otherwise not happy with a business then they should be able to express that view however they want without feeling bad.  It is not the responsibility of the customer to hand hold a business owner into running his/her business responsibly.

Usually the first step is complaining to management...however, if the manager already obviously doesn't like you because you are turning his place into a 'library' then why would you bother?  Approaching the manager first is for one time issues caused by an employee, not for when company policy is the issue.

I think that there being consequences for poor business practice helps to keep the businesses honest and concerned about how they approach their customers and the general public.  So, if anything, it would be less fair to not say anything on social media as you'd be withholding information people need in order to make informed choices.

In the example, the business owner could have implemented changes that made his coffee shop not conducive to study time....live jazz on weeknight (too loud to study), requiring everyone to be a paying customer to sit, putting restrictions on wifi use etc.  Each one of these methods could also be unfavorable but it would be a lot better on public image than handing out notes that basically accuse people of freeloading.

[Whitney]

Here's another question: if that picture showed up in your Facebook or Twitter feed, would you re-send it? or would you hesitate because you didn't know the whole story/context behind the letter?

I might forward it under my business twitter account as an example of fast ways to get people to not like your company but don't think it would be interesting enough to highlight on facebook (I utilize facebook differently than twitter..twitter is for fast, often less important, sharing; stuff on my fb stays up top longer).  I wouldn't find it interesting at all as something to share with friends on my personal accounts unless it was a local coffee shop.

[Whitney]

True.  Like those restaurants that actively discourage people bringing their children. The Mommy Set often gets their panties in a bunch about that, but the flipside is that those that really don't want to breathe the same air as children may well be attracted to that sort of thing.

I think those restaurants should instead just have a a policy that groups with children who can't stay in their chairs or be reasonably quiet will not be served.  It fixes the problems poorly raised kids cause and would discourage families without completely blocking them.  Then it makes anyone who complains have to admit that they can't control their children.  I don't mind kids being present when we go to have a nice night out but sometimes parents just don't have them trained to behave well and that's what makes people annoyed.

[DeterminedJuliet]

Here's another question: if that picture showed up in your Facebook or Twitter feed, would you re-send it? or would you hesitate because you didn't know the whole story/context behind the letter?

I might forward it under my business twitter account as an example of fast ways to get people to not like your company but don't think it would be interesting enough to highlight on facebook (I utilize facebook differently than twitter..twitter is for fast, often less important, sharing; stuff on my fb stays up top longer).  I wouldn't find it interesting at all as something to share with friends on my personal accounts unless it was a local coffee shop.

Yeah, it is a local shop in St.John's, which is still a very small city, which is why I think it's causing such a reaction online. Newfoundlanders tend to keep track of everything "back home" and a lot of people there still have a small-fishing-port sense of community. It's in a part of downtown where there are a lot of small businesses. There are a lot of other, independently owned coffee shops in the area as well.

[DeterminedJuliet]

True.  Like those restaurants that actively discourage people bringing their children. The Mommy Set often gets their panties in a bunch about that, but the flipside is that those that really don't want to breathe the same air as children may well be attracted to that sort of thing.

I think those restaurants should instead just have a a policy that groups with children who can't stay in their chairs or be reasonably quiet will not be served.  It fixes the problems poorly raised kids cause and would discourage families without completely blocking them.  Then it makes anyone who complains have to admit that they can't control their children.  I don't mind kids being present when we go to have a nice night out but sometimes parents just don't have them trained to behave well and that's what makes people annoyed.

I have a kid, but it bothers me when children are running around all over the place in a nice restaurant. If my husband and I are going to pay for a babysitter, we want to enjoy our expensive adult-time together! 

[Crow]

That particular example is a case of a business manager having absolutely no PR skills...

I agree with pretty much everything you have said but the person in question is the manager and is probably limited at what they can do. This looks like a situation where the manager has been told to increase revenue whilst not spend anything to do so. Also they state they're a new manager so there may have been many proceeding events with this issue. But you are totally correct with your analysis that there are far better ways to approach this and not cause such a commotion (one of the easiest and cheapest being to block all plug sockets), it may even just be a problem with a few individuals who use the location day after day and is why the letter was only handed to a few individuals that had taken up residence in the evenings.