ZAK PELACCIO:
People, you know, can express themselves in a way that, you know, with anonymity on the Internet— Right. - In a way that's relatively harmless. They're just out there, they're shooting their mouths off. Let them indulge, you know, their darker sides a little bit. People are going to—you know, because it's better that they do it on the Internet. They do it physically, right, then they come to the restaurant and throw a fit, you know, and actually—disturb business.
KENNY LAO:
What these new applications allow us to do is to really address those issues very, very quickly versus having them kind of sit and fester.
FRANCIS LAM:
What happens when people are posting negative reviews, when they're slagging you all up and down the Internet, is that people aren't their regular selves, right? They're not their best selves. It's like road rage. If there is something there that they're actually expressing—that's legitimate behind all of the crazy language and you can find the thing and just say very calmly to them hey, what about this… if you do make that step to respond to this person, at least 3 out of 4 times that person will write back in a totally different way, like they—suddenly realize there's—wait, there's another person at the other end of this screen.
KENNY LAO:
But their comment is still on there forever.
FRANCIS LAM:
Sure. But then you give them a chance to walk it back— and most people will.
(END OF TAPE)