Critics of Foody Corp took the social networking site Facebook by storm when a Foody company page on the site received thousands of complaints about the company's alleged use of palm oil from deforested areas in Indonesia. The food giant has a 'fan page' on Facebook where users can celebrate and discuss their favorite Foody brands. But yesterday, the page began to attract a swarm of comments accusing the multinational of unethical practices. One said: "Start taking some responsibility for where you source your ingredients... and just maybe we will forgive you." The barrage of comments came in response to a Greenpeace campaign launched this week accusing the company of sourcing palm oil from unsustainably managed rainforests in Indonesia, and destroying the habitat of endangered orang-utans. 

As new negative messages started appearing by the minute, an administrator of the Foody page attempted to accommodate the influx, writing: "...we welcome your comments, but please don't post using an altered version of any of our logos as your profile pic - they will be deleted." Responding to one of the hundreds of messages about the extinction of orang-utans, the administrator wrote: "Get it off your chest - we'll pass it on." Ian Duff, a spokesperson for the Greenpeace campaign against Foody insisted this was not an orchestrated stunt: "We don't have the resources to hire a social media agency. Foody has brought this outrage onto themselves." The Facebook page now has more than 90 000 fans. It is unclear how many have joined to write unfavorable comments. In. February, PR Week reported that Foody was looking to hire a new agency to help with its image online. Later this afternoon, the Foody page description read: "Social media: as you can see we're learning as we go. Thanks for the comments."

Requirements: 

1) How has social media changed the behavior of internet users? 

2) How is social media a source of threat to companies' profitability? 

3) Identify 4 damage control strategies that Foody Corp could adopt to minimize the potential damage they might face as a result of the forementioned "anti-social media surge"? 

4) Apart from the case study situation, identify 5 additional social media strategies that Foody could consider to build relationships with its customers and prospective customers?

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

1 In the past if someone wanted to complain about a company they might write a letter or make a phon... View the full answer