A comment by Jen on my post about using Twitter DMs for business asked a specific question:

How do you know when to take a conversation into more private channel, versus continuing it out in the open?

In other words, you have a disgruntled customer on Twitter. Do you respond via @ reply or DM? You’ve got a negative post on your FB fan page. Do you respond there, or try to contact that person through Facebook mail instead? When do you address an emerging issue or question directly in a blog comment versus requesting a conversation in a different medium, like a phone call?

Something important to note: if the initial comment is made publicly, I always make sure there is *some* kind of public acknowledgment, even if it’s to indicate that I’ll be contacting them through other means, or providing my contact information. It demonstrates that you’re paying attention – both to the individual and the rest of the community (who may very well be watching how you respond).

But I have a few rules of thumb I follow for situations that might require a more closed conversation, and I’ll share them below. Would love you to give us your take, too.

“Boiling Point” Comments

Never throw gasoline on a fire online. Just don’t do it. Flame wars are far too easy to fan, especially in truncated social network conversations. If a customer or prospect is really angry, inflammatory, or derogatory, it’s always best to try and acknowledge the conversation publicly so they know they’ve been heard, but take the discussion elsewhere.

It’s much easier to calmly gather details and really get to the root of an issue in a quieter, more individualized venue. Plus, it communicates that the problem is important enough to you to address directly and personally.

Specific Account Issues

If you’re dealing with an issue that requires the exchange of any identifying account information or details of your work with a client, customer, or prospect, it belongs in a private communication. It might be okay to swap email addresses more publicly (using the [at] or [dot] conventions to try and minimize the scraping potential), but anything like phone numbers or account information should be taken out of the public stream. When in doubt, better to err on the side of private.

Proprietary/Confidential Business Discussion

This is probably the most obvious. If you need to discuss confidential business information – including trade secrets or competitive advantages – take the conversation off the public stream. That may include resolving troubleshooting or technical issues, too. Likewise for financial information that’s not public, discussions of personnel or human resource issues, or anything that your boss, client, or colleague wouldn’t be really happy to find in the public domain.

Need for Additional Details or People

If your conversation is specific to your one-to-one business relationship, and if it takes more than a couple of messages back and forth to resolve, it probably belongs in another channel. Your entire Twitter audience doesn’t need (or likely want) to see you hammer out your mutual calendars for a conference call. If you’re trying to resolve a business question, interview opportunity, or a customer service inquiry, you might also need to ask more in-depth questions or loop in other people on your team. All of that is probably better suited to a more closed network of communication.

Personal Conversation or Gossip

If you’re catching up with a friend or even a client or colleague about the family vacation or the details of last night’s date, a few pings back and forth might be okay. But depending on your audience and the nature of the network you’re using, the more extensive personal conversations might be better served in a one-to-one channel like IM or email. Regarding how and what you say to and about other people and businesses? The only answer here is to use your judgment. But in all cases, remember that words are awfully hard to retract.

So what else would you add? Are there other types of discussions that you think are better suited to private channels? What’s been your experience about what works well in public, and what works better in private? I’m sure there are more than I’ve thought of. Let’s chat?

* (aside: I hate the term “offline” to say “we’ll take this into a separate conversation”. That’s only a true statement if you’re moving from an online channel to an offline one. Taking something from a meeting to another meeting, or from phone to a meeting, or from a phone call to email is NOT taking it “offline”. There I said it. Carry on.)
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