Comments on: Wow – Watch Employees Unravel Your Own Brand with Social Media Blunders http://www.mymarketinginsights.com/2009/05/01/wow-watch-employees-unravel-your-own-brand-with-social-media-blunders/ Empowering marketing professionals in financial institutions and related industries with the strategic marketing insights and resources needed to help grow their organization’s bottom line. Mon, 30 Jan 2012 03:55:46 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Kelly http://www.mymarketinginsights.com/2009/05/01/wow-watch-employees-unravel-your-own-brand-with-social-media-blunders/#comment-20 Kelly Fri, 01 May 2009 17:28:00 +0000 http://www.mymarketinginsights.com/?p=459#comment-20 Jeffry, while I’m happy to hear that the damage done to the credit union in this situation was minimal, I think Nicolette’s point is that financial institutions need to have clear social media guidelines in place for their employees. Even if they do not wish to participate in social media, they need to aware that some of their employees are. I believe Nicolette's goal is to have them think proactively instead of having to deal with a crisis later on. Jeffry, while I’m happy to hear that the damage done to the credit union in this situation was minimal, I think Nicolette’s point is that financial institutions need to have clear social media guidelines in place for their employees. Even if they do not wish to participate in social media, they need to aware that some of their employees are. I believe Nicolette’s goal is to have them think proactively instead of having to deal with a crisis later on.

]]> By: Nicolette http://www.mymarketinginsights.com/2009/05/01/wow-watch-employees-unravel-your-own-brand-with-social-media-blunders/#comment-19 Nicolette Fri, 01 May 2009 16:39:13 +0000 http://www.mymarketinginsights.com/?p=459#comment-19 So true, Jeffry, about the pitfalls of all social media. You were right to council her on pulling down the post at least because social media is uncensored and wide open to the world. All companies need to be coaching employees about the public aspects of everything they post online and that even emails are not private. We found Tweet Deck searches and Google Alerts keep us informed for our clients. Tweet Deck also uncovered some very concerning tweets that Kelly used in <a href="http://tr.im/k23a" rel="nofollow">her blog post </a> that highlight how important monitoring is. So true, Jeffry, about the pitfalls of all social media. You were right to council her on pulling down the post at least because social media is uncensored and wide open to the world. All companies need to be coaching employees about the public aspects of everything they post online and that even emails are not private. We found Tweet Deck searches and Google Alerts keep us informed for our clients. Tweet Deck also uncovered some very concerning tweets that Kelly used in her blog post that highlight how important monitoring is.

]]> By: Jeffry Pilcher http://www.mymarketinginsights.com/2009/05/01/wow-watch-employees-unravel-your-own-brand-with-social-media-blunders/#comment-18 Jeffry Pilcher Fri, 01 May 2009 16:05:37 +0000 http://www.mymarketinginsights.com/?p=459#comment-18 It didn't show up in my Google Alerts. Someone from CUNA first shared it on Twitter. That's how I found out about it. Then, people I know started leaving stern comments on this gal's blog. I asked them to "give her a chance" before publicly crucifying her. I also thought it would be a good idea if she pull the blog post down, because it wasn't doing anyone any good. I picked up the phone and called her. It took less than 5 minutes to track her down and give her a heads-up. She had never heard of Twitter. Didn't know about Google Alerts. She had no idea her blog was public. She thought only her few friends could see/read it. She was shocked, horrified, embarrassed, ashamed, etc. She pulled the post down while we were on the phone. The bad news is how fast something like this can travel on the internet. Between all the different people tweeting about it -- and now, this is the third blog post I've read about it -- I'm guessing the story has reached around 5,000 people. The good news is that these are all pretty much industry insiders. The damage done to the specific credit union in this case was extremely minimal. None of these industry insiders are going to fault the credit union for the foolish act of a single employee. It may be a little embarrassing, but really little (if any) harm was done. Ultimately I think everyone is a little wiser having seen or read what they have about this situation. It didn’t show up in my Google Alerts. Someone from CUNA first shared it on Twitter. That’s how I found out about it.

Then, people I know started leaving stern comments on this gal’s blog. I asked them to “give her a chance” before publicly crucifying her.

I also thought it would be a good idea if she pull the blog post down, because it wasn’t doing anyone any good. I picked up the phone and called her. It took less than 5 minutes to track her down and give her a heads-up.

She had never heard of Twitter. Didn’t know about Google Alerts. She had no idea her blog was public. She thought only her few friends could see/read it. She was shocked, horrified, embarrassed, ashamed, etc. She pulled the post down while we were on the phone.

The bad news is how fast something like this can travel on the internet. Between all the different people tweeting about it — and now, this is the third blog post I’ve read about it — I’m guessing the story has reached around 5,000 people.

The good news is that these are all pretty much industry insiders. The damage done to the specific credit union in this case was extremely minimal. None of these industry insiders are going to fault the credit union for the foolish act of a single employee. It may be a little embarrassing, but really little (if any) harm was done.

Ultimately I think everyone is a little wiser having seen or read what they have about this situation.

]]>