Photo by Valerie Everett

First off, apologies for the radio silence lately. We’ve been tightening screws and pitching while keeping a few other balls in the air. We’re back now.

Been thinking a lot lately about what happens when well-intentioned people use tools like Twitter, Digg, Reddit, etc., to snowball memes about companies without filtering or investigating themselves.

It’s been the subject of several discussions I’ve heard lately in podcasts like MediaHacks and blogs like Clay Shirky’s. I’m sure we’ve all been guilty of this at some point: You see a tweet from a trusted @friend about a company’s heinous FAIL, and without clicking on the link to read ourselves, we retweet it. It’s fast, it’s easy, and we appear on the cutting edge of the social media news cycle. It’s good for our personal brand, right?

In Clay Shirky’s post about the #amazonfail debacle back in April, he apologizes for falling victim to this emotional engagement that even his years of intellectual study could not prevent.

But multiply this by thousands and the company in question is in real trouble. Perhaps there is misinformation in the original post, but pitchforks and torches have been raised, and the angry mob is gaining momentum.

So what does this mean to companies who wish to avoid this? As I wrote in my Open Letter to Jeff Bezos, quick action and careful followups can help. The simple act of stepping outside your protective bubble of advisors and lawyers to say “We hear your concern and we’re looking into it. We’ll let you know as soon as we have an answer.” can stop thousands from jumping on the ANDwagon that perpetuates the ill will.

Monitoring Equalz Stalking?

Is monitoring the conversation and then responding to your customers on Twitter, or on blogs akin to stalking?

Friend of the show and head of Global Digital Communications at Ford, Scott Monty, was called out this morning for doing just that. I’ve long admired Scott’s style on this blog and in conversation with my partners. He won’t back down from a challenge, and regularly defends the Ford brand. Let’s face it. It ain’t easy being a big American car company these days. But is he too confrontational? See for yourself:

Click image to enlarge.

I don’t think so. Just as @overprocessed has every right to post his opinion, Scott has every right to search a public forum and defend his brand. But the question then becomes: Right or wrong, does a brand do more damage than good if their customers see them as “stalking”? You might argue that @overprocessed was already negatively biased towards Ford, so calling him on his shit isn’t a net loss. But just as Scott points out, this is a public forum and we’re all watching. How do we interpret the response?

Response needs to provide a value to the consumer. In my experience, nine times out of ten, people welcome brands that engage with them as long as it delivers some benefit. That benefit can come in the form of customer service, announcements, news and yes, even setting the record straight when someone posts an opinion based on false information. What do you think?

Okay, I guess January is turning out to be Twitter-Lovefest month here at Trustworthy. Mashable has posted a great list of comanies who are using Twitter to the fullest by really engaging with their customers and not simply spewing out promos, offers and announcements (you know who you are). The article is obviously culled from weeks of research and interviews and packs in some solid case studies about how to do it right.

tWiitter: Comparing Twitter to Wii

I predict Twitter (or a similar form of microblogging) will be bigger than blogs some day. I feel I might be in the minority here, as I’ve been hearing more and more people say things like “It’s the Second Life of 2008″ or “It’s the latest ’shiny object’ but will fade away like so many fads.” I disagree and here’s why:

Twitter got through what Seth Godin calls “The Dip” in ‘07 and by the end of ‘08 it officially went mainstream with the Obama campaign and CNN’s Rick Sanchez making “the Twitter board” an integral part of his show.

But that’s not why it will be bigger than blogs.

Take a look at how Nintendo’s Wii blindsided both Microsoft (XBOX 360) and Sony (PS3). Many people would like to play video games, but complicated gameplay and controls drove all but the die-hard gamers away. Enter Wii. It’s easy. It’s fun. The controls are simple and intuitive. Grandma can play with a 5 year old and have a blast.

Now look at blogs. People gravitate to the idea of having a blog, but blogs require a large investment of time and a commitment to keep it up. Enter Twitter. It’s easy. It’s fun. It’s convenient from browser and mobile device.

If blogs are the democratization of publishing and distributing ideas, news and content, then Twitter is the democratization of blogs.