Criticising your club on social media.

[User101]

How do you think a club should or would react to a member criticising it on social media ?

Member has run in with new member then goes on social media slagging off the club for accepting low fee paying memberships.

 

[pendodave]

If I were a club, I'd be a bit peeved if members slagged the club online before approaching people directly. After that, it would very much depend on the circumstances.

 

[Val]

Tough one, at the end of the day committees are formed to do whats right for the club. If it means decisions are made that upset longer serving members then so be it, that includes discounted membership etc...

think it bad form for any member bad mouthing their own club on such a public platform but at the same token you cannot stop free speech. Personal opinion is bin the said member. I would say that the club do need to tackle them member though in the correct manner as not to alienate the member.

Real tough position to be in.

 

[Bunkermagnet]

Dont agree with taking complinats to social media like that. Club have every right to suspend the offender.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

Clubs, like businesses, need to have a social media policy and then let their members know what it is. It is a new era and this is important. I doubt many have this in place but they really should.

I think members have to be very careful but if they are likely to cause damage to the club then the club are entitled to call them in and take action, whatever that may be. If it is a members club it would be the committee, if it is privately owned then it would be via the owner / manager. Actions have consequences and to think otherwise is naïve. Attacking a club online could be seen by thousands or even millions. Very different to moaning in a pub to a handful.

 

[williamalex1]

Cabby we had our old club WEB page closed because of insults, some trolls stiring trouble and arguing, our new page is mainly for information and arranging games and is closely monitored.
Anything not suitable is remove quite quickly by the moderators, no one has been banned yet :rofl:

 

[Smasher]

I think they should leave the melodramatics to 'The Real Housewives' series!
If the club is doing the right things then they shouldn't need to resort to censorship.

 

[Hobbit]

Tough one, at the end of the day committees are formed to do whats right for the club. If it means decisions are made that upset longer serving members then so be it, that includes discounted membership etc...

think it bad form for any member bad mouthing their own club on such a public platform but at the same token you cannot stop free speech. Personal opinion is bin the said member. I would say that the club do need to tackle them member though in the correct manner as not to alienate the member.

Real tough position to be in.

:thup:

First port of call is discuss it with a club official. If you're still not happy, find somewhere else.

Balancing a club's budget is very difficult. It isn't just about making profit. Make too much and you lose your partial VAT exemption. Equally, make a loss and you'll soon have both the members and the bank chasing you. The members will give you verbals, which a thick skin will help cope with, but the bank will put things in place that will give you sleepless night and worse.

 

[williamalex1]

:thup:

First port of call is discuss it with a club official. If you're still not happy, find somewhere else.

Balancing a club's budget is very difficult. It isn't just about making profit. Make too much and you lose your partial VAT exemption. Equally, make a loss and you'll soon have both the members and the bank chasing you. The members will give you verbals, which a thick skin will help cope with, but the bank will put things in place that will give you sleepless night and worse.

Completely agree with you Brian, most folks don't realise the amount of work that's involved running a club.
None of our council guys get paid, thankless job, you can never please everyone, then people complaining at them, when their trying to play a round of golf.oo:

 

[KenL]

Our club has a code of conduct that includes a section on social media.

Posting disparaging comments on line is totally out of order and I would hope that the committee at the club did something about it.

 

[Deleted member 16999]

We had a minor incident recently were the Captain accidentally mixed up the winners and runners up envelopes, the first we knew was when the son (who’s not a member) of the winner complained about the “the sh!te amount the winner received considering the number of entrants” on our Facebook page, as soon as it was spotted the Captain was contacted and asked what he paid out and luckily the runner-up had not collected his envelope so it was opened up the Club.

Once he realised what he’d done, the Captain publicly apologised, explained his error and promised to sort it the next day.

The son then answered with a rant about standards and how it had took the shine off his dads win.....

This all took place over 35 minutes from the first post to the apology. The posts had over 400 views in that time.

In the end the son kept coming back and ranting, so he’s blocked and his dad, who’s a really nice fella, has been spoken to by the Club, plus the posts were deleted.

Ridiculous situation that could of been avoided if the dad had of simply spoken to the Captain.

 

[jim8flog]

We have a set of rules and regs one of which is - it is an absolute 'no no' to slag the club off on social media. Doing so can get the person(s) involved up before the committee for disciplinary action.

Criticising the club can lead to a loss of societies etc booking the club.

We have adequate means by which a player can bring their complaints/comments directly to the Captain's Committee and or the directors without fear of repercussion. All complaints and comments are discussed by the committee and the person will get replied to.

 

[Tashyboy]

Without naming clubs ( top 100 club) A member turned up for a Saturday morning comp only to be told it was cancelled 20 mins earlier. He was livid and left a comment in the guest book. Another member thought the comments were funny. Took a photo and put them on FB. The proverbial then hit the fan. He was told it was a private matter and nit hiw it should of been handled.

 

[SteveJay]

Agree that if a member has signed up to adhere to a code of conduct for social media then they should abide by it. However, in the absence of such a code or rule I think a club is on thin ice if it suspended someone for speaking out of turn on social media.

I wonder how they would fare if there was a legal challenge if that member was suspended and therefore lost money.

Hopefully common sense will prevail in these scenarios, but avoiding censorship and promoting free speech are equally justifiable.

 

[User101]

Agree that if a member has signed up to adhere to a code of conduct for social media then they should abide by it. However, in the absence of such a code or rule I think a club is on thin ice if it suspended someone for speaking out of turn on social media.

I wonder how they would fare if there was a legal challenge if that member was suspended and therefore lost money.

Hopefully common sense will prevail in these scenarios, but avoiding censorship and promoting free speech are equally justifiable.

Some very good points, and my understanding is, at present they have no social media policy but do have a paragraph in their constitution say....

[FONT=&quot]The Committee shall have power to censure, suspend or expel any Member whose conduct[/FONT][FONT=&quot] appears to them to endanger the interests or good name of the Club, or who acts in defiance [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] of the Constitution, Rules or Regulations [/FONT]

 

[Beezerk]

What have you said now Cabby? 😂

 

[User101]

What have you said now Cabby? 

:rofl:

I've been on my bestest behaviour :whoo:

 

[williamalex1]

:rofl:

I've been on my bestest behaviour :whoo:

Hallelujah, my preaching has worked , only temporary fix i imagine . :rofl:

 

[Jacko_G]

Freedom of expression and speech is something that everyone has a right too.

Golf clubs shouldn't expect to be above criticism. Its an interesting discussion though as to what is excessive criticism and what is opinion/statement of fact?

 

[Deleted member 15344]

It will come down to what’s been said , in the manner it’s said and if it’s factually correct

If it’s just a post slagging off people personally or be club done in a disrespectful way then it’s poor and should be dealt with