‘Twitter wars’ show how things can get out of hand, provide lessons
During the Thanksgiving weekend, a few “Twitter wars” made headlines. While one of them, the one that began at an airport and escalated on a plane, was first odd and then sad, the other big one – between “Kyle Kinane vs. Pace Salsa – was pretty funny.
As it turns out, according to The Huffington Post, the “war” wasn’t really between Pace Salsa and Kinane; Kinane was actually pranked by a fellow comedian, Randy Liedtke, masquerading as Pace Salsa.
See the full exchange, including the updates, here.
Although the entire situation was fabricated, there are still a few marketing lessons or reminders to be gleaned from it.
- Don’t set your Twitter account to automatically favorite others’ posts about you. If their post is negative, you look like a tool. Or like your social media is automated (read: impersonal).
- Twitter really shouldn’t replace avenues for private conversations, like email.
- Be discerning when deciding who should have access to your company social media accounts. While Miles, apparently, was the invention of a comedian in this case, there are plenty of true examples of un-vetted social media reps going rogue.
- Speaking of going rogue, if you find a conversation that began on social media – in public, no less – is going south, take a deep breath, reset, publicly mention you will contact the person privately to reach an agreement/find a solution/etc. (and then do so), and find a new approach to the situation, preferably one that begins by moving the conversation to a phone call. DO NOT allow yourself to get drawn into an online argument – even if you think you’re in the right.
Melissa Biernacinski serves as Director of Media Relations for Imagine Communications. Email Melissa at mbiernacinski@weareimagine.com