Responding to criticism - does it have to be done quickly?

I have some real sympathy for Loic as his blogs in French and English lie relatively dormant in the nasty backlash over his over-enthusiastic over-politicisation of LeWeb3. He's in hiding. But it got me thinking about whether some of the advice he has doled out in the past, with which has made his name and his book, is more than a little hollow.

Over the past few months I've been advising LTS and East Lothian on how blog posts can be sculpted and how one might respond to criticism when it comes (and it will always come). Part of my advice is that responding quickly to a criticism in public on a blog is far more effective than deleting a negative comment, ignoring negative comment on others' blogs or hoping that it will all go away (Techcrunch have tried doing all three this week and failed). I also advise against convening meetings to decide on a course of action because, by then, it will be too late.

Some of the advice comes from Loic's pen. p.80 in Blogs pour les Pros:

Les informations circulent très vite sur les blogs. Si un blogueur donne un avis négatif important sur un produit, mieux vaut répondre avant que d'autres ne propagent l'information.

Information circulates very quickly on blogs. If a blogger gives a large negative criticism of a product it's better to respond before others start to pick up on things.

I'm not blaming Loic for reading Technorati watchlists instead of responding in haste, but his prolonged silence is leaving only his fake blog and fake conference site an audience, along with the rest of us. It also makes me wonder whether Loic, like Sarkozy, is having trouble walking the walk.

Update: Robert Scoble adds his tuppence worth, and things may begin to calm down over at Ouriel's.

Comments

[Mike Butcher]

Excellent post. If only Le Merde had read his own book.

[Ouriel Ohayon]

Thanks for the mention. looks like mr butcher needs to read it too...