Social Media Faux Pas

Twitter and Facebook both create a ton of opportunities for companies to interact with consumers, but it is no secret that these social media sites pose massive threats as well. We are well aware that on our personal pages there are certain things we should never do or post. The same goes for companies... times 10. One of the most frowned upon social media practices is deleting unfavorable comments in hopes to maintain a positive brand image. When companies delete these comments or loosely/unprofessionally reply, their transparency and reputation plummet. 

A well-known example of this type of social media disaster was Nestlé's response to Greenpeace's accusations in 2010. I learned about this crisis in my Global Marketing class, and it always comes to mind when other companies make similar silly (and damaging) mistakes. If you're not familiar with the story, let me fill you in...

Cue Greenpeace's (extremely graphic) video:

DO NOT WATCH IF YOU HAVE ISSUES WITH BLOOD... or monkey fingers)

Basically, Greenpeace (a non-governmental environmental organization) was raising awareness of Nestlé's use of palm oil in products, like Kit Kat. It's said that the palm oil companies they used cause extreme deforestation in Indonesian rainforests... and are responsible for the deaths of many native orangutans. Nestlé obviously tried to get the video removed from YouTube... sparking a social media war. Greenpeace started posting on Nestlé's Facebook page... Nestlé THEN made a detrimental mistake: they deleted the critical comments from Greenpeace and other users (especially those with the altered Kit Kat logo as their pictures).

Nestlé was not the first company to make the immature and inexcusable deleting mistake... and were not the last.

Recently, another company (or restaurant, in this case) got a slap on the wrist for their social media practices. Boners, an Atlanta BBQ joint, posted an extremely inappropriate blurb about a customer who "apparently" didn't tip. A rude customer and a bad Yelp review does not give restaurants (or any company) creative freedom to post anything like this... talk about a temper! After checking out their website... I'm not surprised. It doesn't seem like the classiest of establishments, but you can't judge a restaurant by its website (FALSE) who knows...

Boners has deleted the ridiculous post and the establishment's owner replaced it with a personal apology to Stephanie. His "sincere" post, however, has not quelled the equally inappropriate attacks against Stephanie from fellow Facebook users. Whoever is continuing to insult this woman via Boners' page needs to find a new hobby... I think she suffered enough from the restaurant's original post--don't you?

POGS,

AKtually Ashley