Comments on: Stupid Social Media Tricks Down Under

By: kate_reuvers

kate_reuvers — Sat, 30 May 2009 07:46:53 +0000

I have to agree with you, and find this type of “marketing” pretty disgraceful. The problem is that it's not just this company that's done it, and no matter how many companies we see try to “pull the wool” over consumers eyes and fail, there still seems to be another company that tries the same thing a week later.

Consumers are calling on companies to be honest – and when reading about what social media “is”, there's the cry for honesty and transparency. When will these agencies learn that by duping consumers in social media, all that's going to happen is the large percentage of consumers that apparently find trust in the relationships developed in this space will lose that.

(sorry… bit of a rant…)

By: whitneymcn

whitneymcn — Thu, 28 May 2009 16:54:02 +0000

That the company “wondered what the social reaction would be if a law enforcement agency or figure of authority joined the conversation” without then doing any research on the question is particularly stupid, assuming that this wasn't just after-the-fact rationalization for a publicity stunt. A quick search finds many examples of Police Departments actively using Twitter:

http://twitter.com/search/users?q=police&catego...

Boston_Police, in particular, has made great use of Twitter, offering a nice balance of informational updates and conversation.

By: Zander

Zander — Thu, 28 May 2009 16:27:35 +0000

@Edward if the police force thinks it's stupid and/or malicious, it was. It's their name/reputation that got used without their permission.

Does Mentally Friendly also illegally sneak into sports events just to see if people enjoy their company? Do they pretend to be food critics and review restaurants to see if people like the reviews? Just because they do something that might not “hurt” people doesn't make it right.

By: Brennan

Brennan — Thu, 28 May 2009 14:50:19 +0000

It seems Twitter has a real problem with stolen identities and impersonation. What they need to do is put a verified badge on any profile that may be of high profile. Myspace did this with major music accounts so people would know which was one the real was as many popped up. I think it is also on the people who are the real ones to get their people together and find a way to get the account back. CNN did this with their account and it has really paid off for them. Twitter really needs to start trying to figure out what they are going to do security wise because right now it is pretty much the wild wild west.

By: Dean

Dean — Thu, 28 May 2009 13:33:11 +0000

@Edward

re: "this plays to Twitter's monetisation plan -- charging organisations to "verify" the authenticity of particular Twitter accounts."

I never thought extortion was a good business plan. "We'll make sure people don't damage or abuse your organization/brand if you pay us"

FWIW, getting your brand handle back from Twitter is as simple as notifying them that someone else has it and you want it.

By: Edward Stand

Edward Stand — Thu, 28 May 2009 07:30:03 +0000

I don't think the company was malicious or stupid. The account was not abused, useful information was diseminated to an appreciative public and some of the Tweets were just out and out funny.

More than anything, this plays to Twitter's monetisation plan — charging organisations to “verify” the authenticity of particular Twitter accounts.

By: jlbraaten

jlbraaten — Thu, 28 May 2009 05:53:51 +0000

It's actually quite surprising that we haven't heard of even more abuses like this in Twitter. I agree completely that it's wrong, but think about it…. the honor system has been the only thing preventing Twitter identity theft at this point, right?

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