Ethics, Big Business and Twitter

In Share This, chapter six discusses open communication and public relations. One of the most important parts of the chapter to me was the section where it talks about ethics. Public relations professionals have to be aware of proper etiquette and ethics when using social media, especially when operating the social media of any large business or company. According to Becky McMichael, the author of the chapter, the easiest way to avoid this is proper campaign planning and these four simple steps:

1. No offensive content. 
2. Do not hijack the serious news agenda.
3. Do not misrepresent a brand or a person.
4. Do not take social content out of context, like editing or deleting comments. 

While this may seem easy to do, many companies have failed. Some mistakes, intentional or not, can be harmless while others can set back a company in the media and in the eyes of its consumers. For example, Chrysler's Twitter account, manned at the time by New Media Strategies, was victim to a rogue tweet by the person behind the account. While New Media Strategies responded quickly by firing the employee, the damage was done. Chrysler, based in the Detroit area, ended their relationships with New Media Strategies.

Other companies have had better luck with rogue tweets. The American Red Cross had an experience with a rogue tweet in 2011. Gloria Huang , the Red Cross social media specialist, accidentally tweeted a personal tweet on the Red Cross twitter.

The tweet was up for about an hour, but the Red Cross deleted and promptly recovered from it by responding "We've deleted the rogue tweet but rest assured the Red Cross is sober and we've confiscated the keys."

While this could have been bad news for the Red Cross, it actually was turned into a positive situation for the company. Dogfish Head, the beer that was acknowledged in the Red Cross tweet, turned the accidental mention of their brand by the nonprofit into an opportunity for their followers to donate by using the hashtag #gettngslizzerd.

Not all companies are as lucky as the Red Cross. All mistakes on social media are not equal. Some situations can be quickly remedied through humor or a deeply felt apology, but other require more response and tact to be forgotten and move on. When a tweet can be screenshot and blogged about before a company has the chance to delete it, it is especially important for the employee running an account to make sure that they are first and foremost tweeting on the appropriate account.

These are only two of the (unfortunately) many mistakes made on company twitters to date. What are some other Twitter accidents that you can think of, and how did the company in question deal with it?

(2012) Share This. The social media handbook for professionals. United Kingdom. John Wiley & Sons Ltd