Major Business Twitter Blunders - By: Gladstone Brown

Twitter has undoubtedly been one of the major online success stories of recent times. Originally set up for engagement and communication, many companies and celebrities have been signing up with the intention of using it as a way to promote themselves. As a result, many of these have been drawing criticism for their method of using the microblogging site.

Some companies have gone beyond others in misusing the site, or just making blunders in their quest to be first on the scene. One such example is confectionery brand Skittles. Early in the Twitter craze the company set up a page on its website with a live feed with every tweet mentioning Skittles. Things started off nicely with messages coming through of people enjoying the sweets but when people realised the entire stream was unfiltered, Twitter users started posting jokes and unsavoury comments about the sweets – such as “Eating Skittles gave me gonorrhoea” - which then all appeared on the official site.

One of the biggest mistakes, and one that got picked up on most widely by the press, was by furniture store Habitat. After 'top trends' had been introduced to Twitter, the company started tweeting about their deals with an unrelated top trending hash tag to try to gain maximum exposure. Most distressing about this was that it was at the time of the Iran elections, so while people were reading tweets about the issues in the Middle East, they were also getting updates on the latest Habitat sales. The offending tweets were later deleted by the company as if nothing had happened but after much backlash Habitat apologised and said that the tweets had not been approved by the company.

It isn't always companies that make these mistakes. Croydon Council found itself in bother when a supposed direct message criticising a local journalist was misplaced and became a public message instead. The council put a freeze on its account until it came up with a social media strategy. In Michigan, Mayor Mark Behnke uploaded personal information of about 65 employees – including social security numbers – thinking he was uploading a different document. When the mistake was realised the information was removed and all effected employees were offered free identity protection for a year.

As Twitter becomes more widely used, many companies are becoming more cautious in their approach and are seeking expert advice from a social media agency to ensure they get don't find themselves upsetting anyone with their actions.

About the Author

Gladstone Brown is a freelance author who writes for both business and pleasure. He uses this site for both purposes and all articles should be used for information and not as pieces of advice.

Article Directory Source: http://www.articlerich.com/profile/Gladstone-Brown/86458

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