As more companies build a dialogue in their social media outlets, social responsibility to their audience increases.
A KitchenAid employee sent a politically-charged tweet via KitchenAidUSA’s twitter account and it reflected on the company’s core values and political stance. It was quickly deleted, but the damage was already done. Their tweet was re-tweeted several times and the comment went viral. KitchenAid’s social media manager stepped in to rectify the situation. After publicly taking responsibility for her team, she mentioned how that particular user will not be posting tweets on behalf of KitchenAidUSA. Most users appreciated that she took accountability and that she worked swiftly to resolve the issue. Remember, users don’t need perfection- they’re more interested in a company’s response to negative social media situations such as this.
The quality of your social media conversations must be held in the highest. If your company has a blog, twitter account, Facebook page or any other form of media that encourages user-generated comments, you have a responsibility to moderate the conversation, including but not limited to monitoring posts published by your team, approving or trashing inappropriate comments, and performing damage control when needed.
Can you recall when a large brand had a social media blunder that went viral? Leave your comment below!