Latest / DEEP INSIGHT / They need it to survive, but these restaurateurs are frustrated at social media negativity

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They need it to survive, but these restaurateurs are frustrated at social media negativity · DEEP INSIGHT

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: When you're scrolling social media, do you ever see comments
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: like these?
• 0:03
  Speaker 2: $ 30 for pho? I hope you close down.
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: Absolutely horrible.
• 0:07
  Speaker 2: $ 20 for that sewage water? No thank you.
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: It's not just this. It gets worse and sometimes it
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: can be hateful.
• 0:14
  Speaker 3: Eat pork off back to India and take your family too?
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: It's frustrating, and sometimes it feels like there's nothing we
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: can do. My name's Henry. I run an Ottawa-based food
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: and drink social media page called The Best Eat 613.
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: I know firsthand that sharing content online opens up your
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: platform to a range of comments, and that's part of
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: social media. I'm not against healthy debate or disagreement, but
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: sometimes these comments go beyond a critique on your content
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: and become a personal attack on you. So how do
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: businesses handle the world of social media from a positive
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: and negative side? I've had my own experience with the
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: ups and downs of the social media world, For example,
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: I was born not to and lived here my whole life,
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: but I still get comments discrediting my opinion on food
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: because of my British accent. On the other hand, I've
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: seen the power of social media and the positive impact
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: it can have on restaurants and small businesses. It's a
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: really powerful tool to get new eyes on a business
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: and let owners share stories about their place. So now
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: let's hit the road and chat with Tim Mira, a
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: longtime restaurateur who's been serving food before social media and
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: now in this new digital world.
• 1:15
  Speaker 3: My older brother Anish started this location. and I joined
• 1:17
  Speaker 3: him about a year later.
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: Obviously 25 years ago, there was no social media. What
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: has that change been like for you as a chef
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: and an owner?
• 1:24
  Speaker 3: There was no having to post stories every day, captions,
• 1:27
  Speaker 3: viral hashtags. Those weren't considerations.
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: In my day to day.
• 1:31
  Speaker 3: Now, if you are not posting social media, you are
• 1:35
  Speaker 3: actively leaving money on the table. It is a non-negotiable. Generally,
• 1:40
  Speaker 3: feedback is positive and engaging, and I appreciate those things.
• 1:44
  Speaker 3: From time to time, there are comments that have to
• 1:46
  Speaker 3: do with race, authenticity. Perhaps I post alongside my brother
• 1:50
  Speaker 3: about upcoming events, and then the feedback you might get
• 1:53
  Speaker 3: or reaction you might get is, you know, a go
• 1:55
  Speaker 3: back to India. I don't allow anyone else to define
• 1:59
  Speaker 3: the day I'm about to have. People are counting on me.
• 2:01
  Speaker 3: The folks here at the restaurant are counting on me.
• 2:03
  Speaker 3: So if there is a negative comment or a negative experience,
• 2:07
  Speaker 3: that is simply okay. So I wish it was a
• 2:10
  Speaker 3: healthier relationship, a more humane relationship, but that's not the case.
• 2:14
  Speaker 3: And it might be to, you know, some commenters' dismay.
• 2:17
  Speaker 3: I'm going to keep showing up online every day. They're
• 2:20
  Speaker 3: going to see my face all the time.
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: It sounds like some of the negativity on social media
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: has been a strain on a tin. But how he's
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: pushed forward and continued to create has been inspiring. I'm
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: curious if other restaurant owners feel the same. So now
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: I'm heading over to Vanity Room to chat with owner
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: Hinmu Bright-Brown to see what her experience is like.
• 2:36
  Speaker 4: From the very beginning and early onset of our opening,
• 2:39
  Speaker 4: social media had just started to create wave and buzz,
• 2:44
  Speaker 4: not just an excitement, but a frenzy. I think without it,
• 2:46
  Speaker 4: we would have perished a long time ago.
• 2:49
  Speaker 5: The one thing that has happened is that, you know,
• 2:50
  Speaker 5: with freedom of expression of good and the bad, one
• 2:54
  Speaker 5: of the more egregious opportunities to perform well in terms
• 2:57
  Speaker 5: of the algorithms online is to be more responsive. to
• 3:00
  Speaker 5: comments and to feedback, but I found over time, it
• 3:03
  Speaker 5: actually really impeded on my ability to stay positive.
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: You guys do drag brunches. What's the feedback been online
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: around that?
• 3:11
  Speaker 4: When we first introduced it some odd, almost 10 years
• 3:15
  Speaker 4: ago now, we had experienced wise drag criticism.
• 3:20
  Speaker 5: Over the years gone.
• 3:22
  Speaker 4: To 85% split. I think it will always and forever
• 3:25
  Speaker 4: be the gratitude and the feedback that we still to
• 3:29
  Speaker 4: this day, continue to get. It's truly an honor and
• 3:33
  Speaker 4: a privilege to still be recognized in a city that
• 3:36
  Speaker 4: is growing so rapidly when it comes to both culture
• 3:39
  Speaker 4: and hospitality. And I truly feel very thankful.
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: Now that we talked to Nitin and Hind, It was
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: fascinating to hear how they've received comments online and dealt
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: with some of the negativity. They find their own unique
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: way to keep going and posting online. Carrying on is
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: one thing, but what about clapping back? Kwan Nguyen from
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: Fur By Night uses humor and skits in his videos
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: to react to some.
• 4:00
  Speaker 5: Of the comments.
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: This is my family's restaurant. We've been serving the byword
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: market community. 26 years and counting. Recently, we've been really exploring.
• 4:07
  Speaker 3: A skit game. We get a whole.
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: Spectrum of comments. Positive comments from people who really like
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: what we're doing. Sometimes we do get negative comments. Sometimes
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: some comments don't even make any sense. It could be
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: the authenticity police or the economic majors there who talk about...
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: getting the same type of dish on Vietnamese street food
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: for only one dollar compared to what we're charging. I
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: think in order to be successful in this game, the
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: social media age, if you expect that everything is going
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: to be rainbows and butterflies and positive, you're going to
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: set yourself up for some unhappiness, let's say, right? So
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: you got to just have fun with it. The people
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: that respond positively, you thank them. Those that are negative
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: or kind of nasty, you can kind of like poke
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: the bear back a bit, like keep it respectful and
• 4:53
  Speaker 2: just keep it light. That's my strategy.
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: Hearing from these restaurant owners today, I've learned that whether
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: you like it or not, social media is here to
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: stay for these businesses. Negativity does not define them or
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: their work. And this criticism is fueling them to push on.
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: And I want to take this approach to my own
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: social media too. We need restaurants to celebrate our city's
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: diverse food and culture. Seeing people rise above motivates me.
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: Through social media, I've had the opportunity to make loads
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: of great friends with chefs, restaurateurs, and owners across the city.
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: It's been a great opportunity for me to grow my
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: own platform. It's led me to things I never thought
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: it would. I've run a food event when the tin
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: even called Best Fest in the last year, where we
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: had 6,000 locals come to shop, drink and eat. Something
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: that would never have happened without social media. Cheers to
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: pushing forward and continuing to create.