Airlines Turn to Private Messaging to Avoid Social Media Blowups

Nothing has made airline social media managers more nervous over the past decade than a Twitter rant from a customer with hundreds of thousands or even millions of followers. But even the most angry travelers are more often taking complaints directly to airlines and bypassing public forums, according to Joshua March, co-founder and CEO of Conversocial, a firm that helps brands craft social media strategies. When airlines respond promptly to private messages on Twitter, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and other channels, customers often no longer see the need to vent publicly, he said. "If you look at what customers want, they want a quick and easy response," he said. "Tweeting publicly was a way to get attention. But people don't want to complain publicly if they are going to get a response relatively quickly." As recently as a couple of years ago, airline social media teams were most focused on monitoring public forums for anything that might go viral. They still do — no airl