By now, we’re all aware of the benefits of social media. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: Social media is a powerful tool to connect with your target audiences, increase brand recognition and convey key messages. If you’re strategic and willing to make the time and resource investment, you can build a social media following of loyal brand ambassadors. However, it’s important to remember that while social media gives us the power to share, for better or worse, it can also give us the inadvertent power to conjure a storm. This past month, I learned several lessons around just how powerful social media mobs can be.
You may have seen the various stories around a local Seattle bartender who received a most unwelcome tip after serving a patron. The customer left her with a big goose egg in gratuity and the message, “You could stand to lose a few pounds.” Naturally, the bartender was outraged and took to social media to air her grievances. Almost immediately, her social media following went on a manhunt to identify the customer and shame him into apologizing. The only problem was, her angry Facebook mob was unleashed on the wrong guy and the bartender immediately went from innocent victim to wrongful accuser. Clearly, this is yet another reminder to check your facts and check them again. But, it’s also a painful indication of what can happen when you underestimate the sheer power that social media can have.
In another event, one of my favorite bloggers, The Bloggess, had a rather unfortunate run in with a PR guy after she turned down an unsolicited and irrelevant pitch. The guy, who also turned out to be the vice president of the PR firm, inadvertently hit “reply all” when calling her names that I won’t dare repeat. In true Bloggess fashion, she turned to her large and loyal following and with one Tweet, the PR firm was publically shamed. In today’s social media-dominated world, private conversations can easily become public and one false move can be detrimental to your reputation.
Both of these scenarios clearly demonstrate how powerful social media mobs can be to support different causes, whether for good or bad. However, harnessing the power of social media comes with great responsibility. In these situations, the rise of both social media mobs were initiated by simple human error, a careless wrongful accusation and an unintentional “reply all.” While mistakes are bound to happen, it’s how we respond to them that matters. And at the end of the day, if someone really makes you mad, sleep on it before sharing it with the world. And while I think it’s best to refrain from sending scathing emails because you never know where they’ll get forwarded, if you have the unrelenting desire to send it anyway, triple check who you’re actually sending it to.
Monica Rodriguez