Is Rex censoring social media comments?

[Mattg]

I can't help noticing that on Rex's Facebook page, pretty much all of the comments are very positive. That's very unusual for an airline social media page, as there is usually a mixture of supportive comments as well as customer complaints, refund requests, etc. etc.

We all know that Rex doesn't like criticism, so I decided to make note of a couple of newly-posted negative comments I came across on Rex's posts yesterday. Sure enough, a day later, those comments are all no longer there.

Does everyone just love Rex, or are they actively deleting any negative comments that get posted on their Facebook page?

 

[Happy Dude]

Of course they would be. Everyone does it. Some pages are nothing more than hiding to nothing for some companies, eg Telstra. Page after page of complaints answered with "PM us and we'll look that". Rex are just dealing with the complaint itself but not the issue, a bit like doing fewer covid tests to lower the infection numbers.

 

[toowongman]

Of couse. Especially on facebook, we used to run ads however spent too much time deleting comments and stupid statements from people who just make stuff up. No more. The Ds and Es generally believe everything they read on the internet, so you need to cull the cough from your comment feed.

 

[Mattg]

Of course they would be. Everyone does it. Some pages are nothing more than hiding to nothing for some companies, eg Telstra. Page after page of complaints answered with "PM us and we'll look that". Rex are just dealing with the complaint itself but not the issue, a bit like doing fewer covid tests to lower the infection numbers.

I'm sure you're right, although surely there's a difference between answering with "please PM us" and simply deleting/hiding all posts that come across as even slightly negative! They seem to be deleting posts very aggressively.

 

[Melburnian1]

I'm sure you're right, although surely there's a difference between answering with "please PM us" and simply deleting/hiding all posts that come across as even slightly negative! They seem to be deleting posts very aggressively.

That's evidence of good management.

Compare and contrast with defunct Tigerair, which stupidly thought it was a good idea to be featured in a multi-episode television show that ended up 'showcasing' its rude staff and sob stories from passengers who claimed they'd been appallingly treated.

Why would REX want a barrage of negative comments, some of which may well come from QF/VA staff or others with a vested interest?

How many of the 'please PM us' replies that one sees on an FB page like QF's are ever actually dealt with by that airline? There's no visibility.

 

[milehighclub]

I just went to take a look at the page based on what @Mattg mentioned in another thread.

Is it just me, or is it really weird to see a company link to a google form for a survey? Could they have not linked to their website for a survey and plastered a whole of of cheap fares at the same time? Missed opportunity?

 

[Melburnian1]

I'm sure you're right, although surely there's a difference between answering with "please PM us" and simply deleting/hiding all posts that come across as even slightly negative! They seem to be deleting posts very aggressively.

It took me a couple of minutes to find the 'official' FB site. There's one critical comment that has not been deleted:

Tay Helm
Cutting of the nose of the rear plane shows it's a poor shot with not enough care about composition. The fact that REX social media consultant thinks it's good shows their lack of experience. Is this a sign of things to come.

 

[Mattg]

It took me a couple of minutes to find the 'official' FB site. There's one critical comment that has not been deleted:

Tay Helm
Cutting of the nose of the rear plane shows it's a poor shot with not enough care about composition. The fact that REX social media consultant thinks it's good shows their lack of experience. Is this a sign of things to come.

Well, an interesting test will be to see whether that comment is still there tommorrow.

 

[henrus]

There's one critical comment that has not been deleted:

Has it already been deleted?

 

[milehighclub]

The difference between Rex and VA, JQ and QF pages are that Rex don't allow posting of any public comment onto the page for anyone to see as a standalone post. If you wanted to publicly write something, be it good or bad, you have to comment on an unrelated post by Rex itself. I suspect this might be why Rex deletes them cause they are unrelated to the post.

The other airlines allow you to post anything (within reason) on the page for everyone to see. You are give the option to post when you visit the page. Rex has this disabled and given the relatively low numbers of engagement, can probably keep up with monitoring posts.

It took me a couple of minutes to find the 'official' FB site. There's one critical comment that has not been deleted:

I'd hardly think any airline around the world is gonna be worried that someone didn't like their photo.

 

[dajop]

Has it already been deleted?

Not yet.

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=190377052887262&id=116487266942908

 

[Happy Dude]

The difference between Rex and VA, JQ and QF pages are that Rex don't allow posting of any public comment onto the page for anyone to see as a standalone post. If you wanted to publicly write something, be it good or bad, you have to comment on an unrelated post by Rex itself. I suspect this might be why Rex deletes them cause they are unrelated to the post.

The other airlines allow you to post anything (within reason) on the page for everyone to see. You are give the option to post when you visit the page. Rex has this disabled and given the relatively low numbers of engagement, can probably keep up with monitoring posts.


I'd hardly think any airline around the world is gonna be worried that someone didn't like their photo.

Well it was an attack on the photographer's skills, and those of the social media consultant, more than a Rex criticism. I'm surprised that "Tay Helm" hasn't been blocked/reported/fired for dishing out that level of personal abuse. Rex need to ensure a safe workplace after all. Speaking of, is someone using their phone on the tarmac to take that photo?

 

[NoName]

Would not surprise me. Many businesses delete anything negative and often block the poster of said negativity. It says a lot about that business IMO.

 

[Mattg]

The difference between Rex and VA, JQ and QF pages are that Rex don't allow posting of any public comment onto the page for anyone to see as a standalone post. If you wanted to publicly write something, be it good or bad, you have to comment on an unrelated post by Rex itself. I suspect this might be why Rex deletes them cause they are unrelated to the post.

The other airlines allow you to post anything (within reason) on the page for everyone to see. You are give the option to post when you visit the page. Rex has this disabled and given the relatively low numbers of engagement, can probably keep up with monitoring posts.

That may also be true, but they even deleted responses to the "orange or blue text" question which were directly related to the post. For example, the comments "All blue is boring" and "Neither. Uninspiring and boring livery." were both removed.

 

[milehighclub]

Well, an interesting test will be to see whether that comment is still there tommorrow.

And the answer is no.

 

[Mattg]

And the answer is no.

Surprise, surprise.

 

[Melburnian1]

Surprise, surprise.

If you attempt to travel on Rex again is there a chance it'll now ban you from boarding if you use your real name?

 

[Mattg]

I had to laugh at the irony of Rex taking out full-page newspaper advertisements and publishing 73 pages of Qantas complaints from its social media pages this week.

At least Qantas doesn't delete all the complaints it receives on social media!

 

[dylarr]

Maybe that was the plan all along... "they can't get us back if we delete all our negative comments first" ... genius

 

[jakeseven7]

If you attempt to travel on Rex again is there a chance it'll now ban you from boarding if you use your real name?

No chance.