New York, Sep 14 (IANS): Researchers have found out that the number of negative posts on Facebook business pages vastly outweigh the positive ones by a ratio of nearly two to one.

There are more than 60 million business pages on Facebook and that number is from 2017 and with those pages come scores of positive and negative posts generated by Facebook users.

The researchers have seen that companies have very little control over what customers post, and negative ones can severely damage brands.

"We also found positive and negative posts get more likes than neutral ones, but negative posts get the most comments," said study researcher Mochen Yang, Professor at the University of Minnesota.

"Complaints about social issues receive more likes, but fewer comments, than complaints about quality or money issues," Yang added.

The study, published in the journal Information Systems Research, analyses this user-generated content to understand the impact of what users post and how it impacts the brand.

Engagements depend not only on the type of post, but also in the specific ways the post is positive or negative.

The study looked at data from 12,000 posts from 41 Fortune 500 companies in six industries in 2012.

"Though increased engagement has been linked to increases in brand loyalty, purchase expenditures, and profitability, companies should carefully consider whether Facebook business pages are an appropriate venue to interact with customers," Yang added.