Sign up for our free weekly e-newsletter

Blogging, tweeting, and Facebook's like function, just to mention a few, have turned virtual unknowns into opinion leaders who are helping others form their thoughts, turning previously passive people into active participants in society and having an impact on the fate of businesses.

While already busy executives might consider reading and replying to what their followers and critics are saying about their company a waste of time, they have few alternatives if they want their business to be, or remain, successful.

Which is why it is admirable that a hotelier in my home country of Malta took time to schedule a 90-minute face-to-face meeting with critics of one of his company's planned projects, giving them the opportunity to ask questions and allowing him to give them his version of events.

In an incident that clearly shows the power of social media, ordinary citizens were able to publicly weigh-in about a hotel being built by Island Hotels Group--a company that already owns three hotels, two of which are Radisson Blu branded--in the place of a derelict army barracks previously used as a holiday complex. After numerous comments populated the Facebook page of the Oasis at Golden Sands, Island CEO Winston Zahra scheduled a meeting with his critics.

And yet, in a clear indication that people are more comfortable making criticisms from the comfort of their own homes--giving a new meaning to the expression armchair critics--only two of those who raised concerns about the project showed up for the meeting.

However, the hotelier's decision to hold an informative session was not a waste of time since it showed his company's willingness to give information, answer questions, and address concerns. But he should not stop there. He needs to continue reaching out to those who are only willing to comment through social media, answering the questions posted online.

Perhaps he should consider expanding the project's Facebook page, posting a transcript or summary of the meeting, giving those who could not, or would not, attend the same information as those who did.

But his proactive attitude in meeting up with his critics is not only something to be commended, it's also something to be emulated by other executives whose companies or projects are at the receiving end of negative criticism.

Ignoring it won't work. You have to do something about it.