How should small businesses handle social media’s cancel culture?

How should small businesses handle social media’s cancel culture?As much as TikTok has become a community space for young people, it can also have a strong cancel culture when users post bad interactions they’ve had with businesses. Just recently, “cakegate” and “tattoogate” proved how viewers on the app are willing to leave bad reviews and comments on a business based on posts about someone else’s negative experience. But when these are small businesses and independent artists, how can they handle the influx of hate? Marketing experts say they should create clear policies for themselves on what kind of content they want to post—likely avoiding sharing stories of unhappy customers like the one that sparked “cakegate.” Instead, they say businesses should focus on building a transparent relationship with their actual customers, and let online hate just play itself out, as much as they may want to respond. But while small brands may need to let the viral story run its course, YPulse data shows young consumers want big brands to address their mistakes—which we explore more in our upcoming Cancel Culture trend report. (NBC)