Don’t Tweet That! 10 tweets that will get you into hot water...

Leading on from my last blogs look at the Nestle Facebook disaster, I thought I’d follow up with a few words about one of its biggest rivals, the mighty Twitter.

Time and time again people have posted things to their corporate Twitter feed that has really blown up in their face and surprisingly, the big corporate machines have been just as guilty of this as the rest of us. So I've rustled up a few tips to help you stop your tweets turning into 140 character time bombs that explode into twittersphere.

In all honesty, I look at Twitter in the same way that I look at other sources of written communication - books, blogs, magazines, websites, social networking - they all have a purpose and can be used effectively but each presents it's own dangers as well. This is a huge challenge for companies.

Don’t get me wrong, Twitter can definitely add value to any business that uses it well. It is a great way to reinforce your brand, share news and important information, gather feedback, advertise and most importantly, start a dialogue with your customers and prospects – and the only cost is the time of the people involved with managing your Twitter account.

But it's surprising just how many organisations don’t use them effectively and there are some who don’t even seem to think before they tweet. Surely, before you’re going to say something publicly that will reflect on your company or brand, you should take just a split second to think about what you’re posting? I know the first thing that pops into my head isn’t always something that I’d want to broadcast!

Here’s a little list I pulled together for corporate tweeters:

The Definitely Do Not Tweet List!

1. Don’t just use twitter as an advertising medium – it doesn’t work that way. Twitter is designed for relationship building. The most successful corporate accounts provide insights and value to the general listener.

2. Don’t complain about your colleagues or clients on Twitter. If they don’t read it someone else will tell them about it, trust me, it will get back to them!

3. Don’t get defensive about negative criticism of your company or it’s services, use the opportunity to show those listening that you care about what they think and try to resolve any issues they have.

4. Don’t post about any confidential company affairs or finances. This can get your company in a lot of trouble and will almost definitely leave you without a job.

5. Don’t publicise any private issues or jeopardise the company’s working relationships.

6. Don't #hashtag every topic. After a while, your topics will just be ignored and you will be un-followed.

7. Don't tweet about any issues you have with a co - worker or your employer or anyone else for that matter – try talking to them about it! This just makes both you and your company look really unprofessional (not to mention a tad passive aggressive!) not such a good look.

8. Don't tweet your eating habits. Seriously. Just don't do it.

9. Don’t think having an anonymous account or user profile makes any of the above okay.

And Finally...

10. Don't use completely unrelated hot topics or events solely as a PR opportunity to further your own name and social media rank and position, people will see straight through it.

To illustrate this last point, I leave you with this example, posted by the official Google Maps API twitter account, just after the news broke about the death of the ‘King of Pop’ Michael Jackson. It's a pretty insensitive attempt to use some completely unrelated news to attract people to their website, which they have since deleted:

Nestle’s Facebook Fiasco.

Last week, chocolate maker Nestle became the centre of a Facebook feeding frenzy when the operators of the corporation's Facebook page made a rather hostile response to some of it's critics’ comments.

The situation began when environmental protection group Greenpeace, who are known for their unorthodox methods of gaining attention, created a video parody on YouTube of Nestle’s KitKat chocolate bar.

The video parody (not for the faint hearted) suggests that the production of a key ingredient in the product, palm oil, leads to the destruction of rainforests.

Nestle demanded that the video be taken down but it went viral, reappearing on multiple video sharing websites. Then Nestle's Facebook page was flooded with angry comments from Greenpeace supporters, whom the activist group had encouraged to change their profile photos to anti-Nestle slogans that incorporated the company's food logos.

Nestle’s Facebook administrator countered with the following threat:

Nestle: We welcome your comments, but please don't post using an altered version of any of our logos as your profile pic - they will be deleted."

Unsurprisingly this attempt at censorship didn’t go down particularly well and a barrage of angry critics flooded their page:

Paul Griffin: Your page, your rules, true, and you just lost a customer, won the battle and lost the war! Happy?

Nestle: Oh please .. it's like we're censoring everything to allow only positive comments.

Darren Smith: Honey you need new PR

Jagos Golubovic: I was a big fan of your products, but now, when I saw what you guys wrote, I think I'm gonna stop buying them.

Helen Constable: I'd like to know if the person writing the comments for Nestle, actually has the backing from Nestle? I doubt it. Even a dumb ass company like them would get such an idiot to be their public voice.

Nestle: I think you missed out the 'not' there, Helen

Hyra Zaka: is a nestle rep running this page?????

Responding to one of hundreds of messages about the deforestation and it's effect on endangered Orang-Utangs, the administrator brazenly countered: "Get it off your chest - we'll pass it on."

Not only was this a social media disaster, it’s managed to bring the central issue - the company’s connection to deforestation in Indonesia and its effect on indigenous people and Orang-Utans - to more eyeballs than even Greenpeace could have hoped for.

What happened to Nestle happened because the person charged with managing its Facebook page was either under-qualified or unprepared to do their job properly. Handled differently, the attack on Nestle’s facebook page could have been better managed and the outcome could have been radically more positive for the brand.

Here’s a few Corporate Facebook tips that Nestle would have done well to remember:

1. DON’T insult your fans - negative comments and the way you respond to them is visible to all your followers. Aggressive and inflammatory remarks are a sure fire way to antagonise even the most passive reader.

2. DON'T Censor their comments - silencing your critics will only add fuel to the fire. As bad as it might seem to have criticism showing up on your Facebook page, it’s infinitely worse to have the mainstream media pick up on your censorship, unless you live in China, the internet is a democracy.

3. DON’T respond unless you have something positive to say. Nestle’s mistake was responding to criticism before they had a valid point to make. By the time they announced their plans to use 100% renewable palm oil by 2015, the damage was already done – nobody was willing to listen.

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