One of the biggest fears brands have with social media is losing control of the conversation. This happened with the backlash against Motrin Moms, and misuse of CNN’s Headline T-Shirts.

Sometimes user generated content, isn’t brandable content, as shown above. Google’s Suggest tool wound up propagating an offensive message to their users (found on failblog.org). It’s certainly unintentional. Google Suggest bases its suggestions on the most popular search terms that include the text you’ve already entered.

A similar situation happened when users hacked CNN’s T-Shirt printing widget. Users printed any headlines they wanted, all with the CNN brand.

So what are marketers to do?

First, if you do experience a backlash, don’t overreact. The scope of these blowups are usually a lot smaller than you think. The Motrin Mom backlash was a momentary spike. CNN’s hackable headline T-Shirts didn’t have a negative impact on the brand. In fact, it generated a lot more traffic.

Secondly, to use an old cliche, don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. Participating in social media isn’t only about letting people generate content about your brand, it’s also about listening. Social media gives brands a chance to tap into consumer’s sentiments (What are people saying about my brand?).

Listening before you talk makes sure you’re authentic and deliver the right message. Finally, filter. Social media campaigns can benefit greatly by an editorial eye or keeping conversations private. SocialMedia.com keeps conversations between friends, and provides a range of options to direct what users can say about a brand. More adventurous brands will open the channel, while conservative brands will keep a tighter reign.

As with social media campaigns, this one time failure of Google Suggest doesn’t invalidate all the other times it works. Similarly, the worst thing marketers can do is write off social media after one bad experience.