Social Media Fails
Social media is a powerful medium. Social media can catapult a relative nobody onto the global stage. Social media can transform a college gamer into a millionaire with an online following larger than that of Kanye West. But the transparency of social media is not without its risks. Social media campaigns can backfire. In this post, I will analyze three social media “fails” and propose solutions that could have mitigated the disasters.
Fail 1: Nokia’s Bendgate joke. The Iphone 6s launch was full of hysteria. Customers couldn’t wait to get the product, and lines were massive. However, it was soon revealed that the flawless Iphone actually had a flaw of its own — it would bend in people’s pockets while they sat down. Nokia (perpetually in Apple’s shadow) sought to take advantage of this with a clever joke. They joked that Nokia’s phones are naturally bent. However, Nokia made the huge mistake of posting the message via Twitter from an Iphone. The absurdity of this is apparent — not even Nokia uses Nokia’s phones. Clearly people working for Nokia actually think the Iphone is a better product. The joke backfired and Nokia became a laughing stock. If Nokia had taken the time to notice that the message would displayed posted by Iphone OR if Nokia required its social media team to use its own phones, this would have never happened. The social media posting could have gone viral and boosted Nokia’s sales.
Fail 2: Donald Trump posting a picture of two serial killers to his Twitter feed. The Trump campaign has been one forthe ages. Many of his statements appear that they should have been classified as fails with racist rhetoric including “banning Muslims from America.” However, these statements have somehow helped his campaign. There is one fail that I’m sure he regrets. He (or his social media manager) re-tweeted a picture of two serial killers who the original poster had claimed was an inspiration for his parents. Although this clearly didn’t destroy his campaign, the fail clearly could have been averted. If Trump’s social media manager spent more time researching and doing diligence before re-tweeting, this gaffe wouldn’t have happened. This has been systemic in the Trump campaign with misspellings on social media mocked by Rubio. I’d recommend Trump devote more time to managing his social media campaign.
Fail 3: Pizza Hut employees calling a customer “Pink Fat lady.” This was less of a social media fail than an indication of how employee irresponsibility can degrade brand as customers can use social media. This wasn’t the fault of Pizza Hut’s social media division. Disrespectful employees made the gaffe of labeling a customer fat and then effectively telling it to her face. She used social media to push the news item viral. Not only were the employees degrading, but it’s particularly pertinent that the term “fat” was used to describe the customer as Pizza Hut and Yum Brands already have problems with their unhealthy food. This note showed that Pizza Hut employees do not value their customers and perpetrates the belief that Pizza Hut is unhealthy. I’d recommend Pizza Hut spend more efforts on employee training.
