Twitter Catastrophes: What Not to Do
Twitter has many benefits and tools to offer businesses, like expanding your clientele, networking and promoting your company’s special offers and news. But what are some of the “dangers” of Twitter?
Recently, Chrysler, Hillary Clinton, Aflac and the American Red Cross have learned about these “dangers” that Twitter can harbor and the repercussions that it brings to those involved.
Deported from Twitter
Chrysler made it known this past Super Bowl that their cars are “imported from Detroit” and that they are indeed proud of their city. A couple weeks after the commercial ran, a tweet appeared on the official @ChryslerAutos official Twitter account that bashes the city of Detroit. The tweet was immediately deleted, an apology was given out, the employee (of New Media Strategies) was fired, and Chrysler did not renew their contract with NMS.
Freedom of Tweets?
Hillary Clinton’s (now former) press secretary Philip J. ‘P.J.’ Crowley is a frequent tweeter who resigned March 14th after controversial tweets he said about the treatment of Bradley Manning, calling it “ridiculous and counterproductive and stupid”. This is obviously not something a veteran public relations professional should be tweeting.
Aflac in Distress
Aflac’s television cartoon voice Gilbert Gottfried’s commercials have stopped being aired and he was fired as the spokesman for Aflac after he took to his personal Twitter account and posted jokes on the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan.
Japan makes up three-quarters of Aflac’s business, a fact that Gottfried clearly did not take into account. Gottfried’s ill-timed sense of humor was certainly a mistake on his part—not to mention a representation of a complete lack of human compassion, which is the opposite image Aflac wants to present.
American Red Cross: True Preparedness in Crisis
In February, a member of the American Red Cross accidentally tweeted a personal message on the @RedCross account: “Ryan found two more 4 bottle packs of Dogfish Head’s Midas Touch beer….when we drink we do it right #gettngslizzerd”.
Oh no.
The American Red Cross quickly took to their Twitter to recover by apologizing to the public in a humorous way:
“Rest assured. The Red Cross is sober and we’ve confiscated the keys.”
Luckily they were able to turn the incident around, catch the public’s eye and even created a fundraising opportunity with Dogfish: donate a pint of blood and receive a free pint of Dogfish (this incident even helped the sale of Dogfish by expanding their market).
Just like with all media, you need to be prepared for when a disaster can strike within your social media department, even if the disaster is just a wrong tweet. Make sure you set a plan in place before an incident occurs. Also, remember to react in a timely manner, acknowledge your mistake to the public and to try to turn the incident around into something positive, much like the Red Cross did.
Posted by: Elizabeth Dempsey
Tags: Social Media, Twitter, Crisis Communications, Microblogging, New Media
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