It was not too long back when the only way people could publicly share their brand experience was through 'Letters to Editor' column. That too was left at the discretion of the editor who decided which reader's letters should be published in that column! Fortunately all that changed with the advent of various social media sites. These gave people a platform to share and discuss anything they liked. There was no control or restriction on them. The reader could now decide who to read and believe. These online reviews, consumer experiences, user ratings and votes on products and services have started influencing the purchase behavior. Read the Windchimes Social Media Survey report for more information

It became evident that while companies spent millions on advertising their brands, they were losing out by not listening to what consumers had to say about their brand! It was imperative to not only listen to what was being spoken but also reciprocate with prompt and relevant action. Fixing online reputation works on the 'Broken Window' analogy. It's best to address the issue on the first sign of damage before it escalates further.

Every company has various stakeholders who would be commenting about it. Unlike the print medium, tracking the online space is very different and fraught with challenges:

• There are not only vast numbers of platforms that consumers could use to voice their opinion but also they operate on different technologies
• The number of blogs or groups in networking sites to be tracked runs into millions unlike few hundred print publications.
• There are comments on each blog post that also need to get tracked along with the post itself!
• Content on each social media platform is changing 24X7 unlike print where it happens once a day

However what is important is for companies to realize that they are being spoken about in these communities. It's equally important to have a pulse on them.