The question is; if a company like HMV with over 7,000 employees and more than $1.5 billion in annual revenue can get social media so wrong then what hope do other companies have?
During a very difficult time for HMV an angry employee, one of several hundred let go by the company that day, decided to vent her frustrations on HMV’s official Twitter account.
“We’re tweeting live from HR where we’re all being fired! Exciting!! #hmvXFactorFiring”, went the first tweet, blasted to the company’s more than 70,000 Twitter followers around the globe.
Things quickly worsened. In the course of seven subsequent Tweets, the employee aired the company’s dirty laundry to the world. She even managed a jab at her own social-media-challenged boss: “Just overheard our Marketing Director (he’s staying, folks) ask ‘How do I shut down Twitter?” she tweeted.
Once these tweets went viral the damage was done, but HMV is hardly alone in failing to safeguard its social media accounts.
So what can we as businesses do to protect ourselves against the dangers of social media?
• Implement a robust social media policy and ensure that it is communicated and understood by all staff
• Limit permissions to company social media sites such as Twitter and Linkedin
• Ensure passwords remain confidential and in your control at all times
There is no doubt that social media is the marketing tool of the future so take steps to protect yourselves now.
By Angela Stancer