Twitter is an incredible way to share information, build community and grow a business. But it’s also open, transparent and immediate.
Millions are listening at any given moment of any day, and trust me when I say, those people will instantly rise up in riotous defense of a cause or issue. But, they will just as instantly – and happily – share out a victory or memorable moment.
I’ll give you example of the two sides of Twitter; one big and bad, and one small and memorable.
Big and Bad
Clothing company Kenneth Cole is known to stir the pot with their advertising. Socially conscious and often controversial, they often use current events to tweak their consumers’ thinking, and usually insert a bit of tongue in cheek humour into their copy.
If you’re new to this game of Twitter, you might not remember their online debacle from last year.
Riding the coattails of the brave young men and women fighting – and dying – for change in Cairo this tweet was published in the Kenneth Cole twitter stream:
“Millions are in uproar in #Cairo. Rumor is they heard our new spring collection is now available online at http://bit.ly/KCairo.”
Needless to say, it was a tasteless PR fail. As is the way with the social web, it didn’t take long for that tweet to spread all over the Internet. People were outraged. And Kenneth Cole eventually issued apologies.
“Re Egypt tweet: we weren’t intending to make light of a serious situation” then “We understand the sensitivity of this historic moment -KC”
By then, however, the damage was done. What’s published – and shared – on the web cannot be unpublished, or unshared. While Kenneth Cole is a huge and very popular fashion house, and probably didn’t suffer huge fall out in the way of real monetary loss because of this hiccup, they did experience tons of backlash.
And they definitely will never be able to sweep that tweet under the social carpet.
Small and Memorable
Now I’ll share the flip side of the coin. This morning, while getting ready for work, I suddenly found myself humming an old country classic, Rhinestone Cowboy. It was odd, and random, and knowing my Twitter stream is populated by many of the same *ahem* vintage as I am, I of course tweeted it out for a morning chuckle.
I had a few funny replies, a couple of retweets, and many people who winking’ly groaned that now they had the tune in their heads as well (another illustration of the power of Twitter!).
By the time I got to work an hour later I had a new Tweet in my @ stream from someone I didn’t know named Larry Weiss.
“@belllindsay it’s your lucky day! #rhinestonecowboy“
Have you figured it out yet? I clicked on his name, and discovered that Larry Weiss – who had just personally tweeted me – wrote “Rhinestone Cowboy”! Ok, I’m an old country fan and a music fanatic in general, so I was kinda freaking out. But you don’t have to be a country music fan to get the point of this little story.
Lesson Learned
Larry Weiss was listening. All the way down in Nashville, Tennessee he was listening. I didn’t follow him. I didn’t even use a hashtag in my original tweet. But he still found me. And he found me fast! Then took the time to reply.
Boom – I’m smiling (ok jumping up and down)! I then immediately tweeted the news to all my followers, and ended up writing this blog post about it. It was so simple, it was so personal, and it was very powerful. He used a bit of good-natured humour, and absolutely made my morning.
That’s the amazing real-time impact that social media can have at a very personal, one on one level. And those are the two sides of Twitter. Think of the two stories above in relation to your business. Which side would you rather be on?
About Lindsay Bell
Seriously, this is AWESOME. What an amazing series of events!
@tab_b Somehow, Tab, I knew you would appreciate this.
Was such a nice surprise after a Toronto subway ride! Thanks!
@belllindsay I can well imagine! It’s actually a fantastic lesson for businesses, too. Put yourself out there – make those comments, say the things you’re thinking, be visible and authentic. You never know what might happen!
@tab_b Yup. It was a perfect little illustrator! How easy and simple it was, and look at the response it generated!
Hi Lindsay
Thanks for reminding us of that twitter is a double edged sword.
Most of us know that, but it’s nice to be reminded.
Sorry I can’t match your story, but I did reply to a Matt Cutts (the Google guy) tweet once… and he replied back.
I know that’s sad, but it’s the best I can do.
@wmwebdes HA! Nothing is sad, not when it comes to our individual little quirks, or things that make our hearts pitter patter with glee!
And I agree that the double edged sword thing is a fairly ‘natural’ bit of knowledge for most of us, but I hope I’ve reached at least one person who’s just starting out, or the person doubtful of how quickly a message can spread. Cheers, LB
.@belllindsay .@JugnooMe Thank you so much for the nod! I absolutely loved your blog & am honored to be part of it:-)
@RHNSTN @jugnoome My pleasure! You honestly made my day. Cheers!!
Way to go, Lindsay! And a big thumbs up to Larry Weiss, this is what Twitter–and social media in general–is all about. On the other hand, there’s Kenneth Cole–thank you for using this as an example of what not to do. The Cairo debacle is just one of many PR blunders for the company, yet they’ve chosen to continue to pull these stunts. I always use them as an example when I teach classes on social media. I think it’s tasteless and shameful, but maybe that’s just my opinion?
@JulieTyios Nope, tasteless and shameful pretty much summed it up for me last year as well.
Thanks Julie, I’ve had a few “brushes with greatness” on my Twitter journey, but come on….the Rhinestone Cowboy!!?? Doesn’t get much better than that. Cheers, LB
And, unfortunately, Kenneth Cole STILL hasn’t learned their lesson…they’re still making waves in the social space, this time with teachers in NY. The thing that’s most bothersome is it doesn’t hurt their sales so they’re just ignoring the big, bad Twitter and doing what they want.
@ginidietrich Yes, I saw that story also Gini – they just keep stirring the pot! They create a big mess, and then back pedal, I guess to them any press is good press…??
@belllindsay And you know how I feel about THAT
@ginidietrich Aww, you’re so sweet! Thanks!
@bellindsay @JugnooMe
@belllindsay Don’t get used to it
@ginidietrich AHAHAHA!!
@belllindsay You wanna come over for dinner?
@ginidietrich Yes please!! I’m calling the cab right now!
@ginidietrich @bellindsay @JugnooMe Love that post! Thanks for sharing.
Lindsay, I loved this post and can totally relate. I have read author Tom Peters since I was in college. He’s on Twitter, so I follow him there. He shared a blog post he had done for a recent graduate and I commented on it and RT’d it, then he followed me. It made my day. I was completely geeked out.
@andreamv Hi Andrea, and thanks! Funny how something so small can feel so incredible, right? I was over the moon!
Both of our stories are such clear illustrations of what companies can achieve using social. Up close and personal – something that many people are missing in today’s society – really resonates. Thanks for stopping by! Have a great weekend, Lindsay
We feel the same way, @ginidietrich. Have a great weekend! ^HA
@JugnooMe You do the same!
That poor guy sitting there lonely wondering why Kenny Rogers or Charlie Daniels was still getting commercials or publicity. So he took to twitter. Rumor has it he told Spirit Airlines that the ex-marine was faking his illness just to get his money back and buy some kenneth cole shoes.
Twitter is interesting, Topics go viral but rarely does one tweet or piece of content. But the good news? Commotion fades away fast. How many people still hold kenneth Cole accountable?
But if you do your listening you can earn new fans and make new friends. Remember we connected on that @ginidietrich spinsucks baby seal hunting field trip tweet where we both protested and called PETA.
@HowieSPM @ginidietrich Er, was that the day when I was hiding my bloody wooden club behind my back…..? Heh. And they may not hold KC accountable, but that gaffe always comes back to life. So, they will never be able to truly get away from it.
PS. I heard Gini has a rockin’ seal skin vest that she wears when winter-cycling.
Hey Lindsay! Congrats on attracting a songwriter of a legendary songpiece. It stands to reason that serendipity tends to win out more than the ‘planned’ posts. Case in point: a friend of mind @fit_vs_fiction continually speaks about body image and insecurity esp. among teenagers. One day she tweeted and referenced Richard Simmons, a strong champion and supporter for those with low self image. That same morning he not only responded to her post, his agent called her and a new contact and relationship was born. While KC crossed the line in these instances, they also had the gumption to test the channel and pave the way for the rest of us to learn from their mistakes.
@hessiej @fit_vs_fiction Love the Richard Simmons story!! And yes, there are always those ‘envelope pushers’ – who have the bravery (some night say) to cross the line – if it’s a win, the line effectively gets moved a little. Which benefits us all. But if it’s a fail…it usually ends up being a big’un. That said, I agree with you that we get to learn from their mistakes. Great point.
@belllindsay @hessiej We need to get the video of Hessie singing “Rhinestone Cowboy” at the Boston karaoke bar up on the Fun Friday posts – equal to @ginidietrich singing her “I’m a Barbie Girl” Aqua karaoke at The Conference That Shall Remain Nameless in 2011!!
@DannyBrown @belllindsay @ginidietrich I remember one Danny Brown singing a catchy tune… “Hit me with your best shot” at a #140conf earlier this year. I still have pics to prove it!
@hessiej @DannyBrown @ginidietrich That’s cause Danny is a real touch cookie with a long his-tor-yyy!!
@hessiej @DannyBrown @ginidietrich That’s cause Danny is a real tough cookie with a long his-tor-yyy!!
@DannyBrown @hessiej @ginidietrich I would pay *huge* to see that.
Sometimes a small thing can bring big benefits, like a small tweak on a website. I honestly like Twitter above all other social media, especially for thir privacy settings but also for being short and to the point. And for not having games and similar things. Not so much for those who publish a tweet every half an hour every day who I usually unfollow asap. And Paper.li is another great way to use Twitter.
Very interesting post, and glad you received such a cool answer from a tweet.
@dlbgroup Thanks for the share!
@JugnooMe
I love stories like that. Not only do I have Rhinestone Cowboy loaded on my iPod I actually listen to it. I got to Tweet with Ralph Macchio a while back. It was kind of fun.
That is the thing about Twitter, you just never know who is listening.
@TheJackB Ralph Macchio is pretty cool. I tweeted with Lyle Lovett and almost wet myself. *Huge* fan. It’s neat. And you’re so right, you never know who might be listening.
@LucieATAYA Thanks for the share Lucie!
@JugnooMe
@JustInTheSouth thanks Justin!! Cc @jugnoome
Thanks for the share, @bettina_johnson – have you had any ‘big and bad’ or ‘small and memorable’ moments on Twitter? ^HA