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Mea Culpa: My Social Media Mistake
July 13th, 2009
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by Warren Whitlock · Filed Under: Twitter
Image via WikipediaLast Friday, I flew down to Los Angeles to be on a talk radio show about Twitter.
Most of the time I call in to radio shows, but the offer was for a studio show, so said yes.
The show ended up being at the same time as TwitCastRadio, my own Twitter radio show, so I contacted the producer and told them I’d simulcast my show via phone from their studio.
The show went well but the simulcast failed. So I got the link for their show and posted it for this weeks TwitCastRadio.
On Saturday, they started sharing the link I used to them. Sunday I was out, but saw that there were a lot of mentions of the show link in my stream. I thought “Boy, these guys are popular”
Unfortunatly, it was a plot to use my name and the show to promote themselves. By Monday, I had to contact them and ask them to stop using my name. The links and use of my Twitter handle continued so I contacted the show host, the contact that got me to go and a few of the tweeps who were complaining that I might be a spammer.
As any regular reader would know. I’m not a spammer. I teach against the use of bots to post and anything that has a repeated message. Even if you are saying nice things about me.. it’s just not right.
My name has been dropped, so my followers are spared any furuther tweets. However, the host of the show has not changed his ways so I need to cancel the replay of his show and will instead air an episode that talks about how easy it is to look like a bad apple in social media.
Anyone can get caught it this. United Airlines just got a taste of it last week and we all know stories of companies large and small who end up looking bad, regardless of intentions.
The answer: Tell the truth and be transparent. I was wrong to trust this guy and while I did nothing wrong by appearing on his radio program, I could have stopped the links early. I’ll claim it’s becuase I’m a nice guy, but that’s no excuse.
When you make a mistake, take the heat, admit you did wrong and move on. While the public does like to see someone fall, they like it even better when there is a redemption.
Well.. here’s mine. If you saw all those tweets, I apologize. I’ll try to watch closer and prevent this in the futuer. Hopefully, this post will help clear the air and help other learn from my mistake.
What say you? Am I doing it right? What else would you do? Share your thoughts, stories or comments here.
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Warren,
While I don’t remember seeing all those ’spammy’ tweets, I have been a follower of yours for some time, though I’ve never visited this blog. On twitter, you come across as a decent guy with a great sense of humour. I am pleased to say this experience, and especially this post on your part, has only heightened my opinion of you.
You did the radio show in good faith and, while you could have perhaps stopped them from using your name for quite as long as they did, did your best to speedily resolve the issue. But, above all, you are taking the time to be upfront, admit possible fault, and apologize. Thanks for the great example!
If you are admitting to this, then I can see you are a very decent guy!
Thanks you Marja and Jo. I do try to be decent, but my real effort is to be “real”
So much of what we see on TV and in life is fake. Truth be told, we’re all just showing a face we want seen.
Today, more people are trying to match “real” with their authentic self.
Personally, I find being “me” a full time job
All of our interactions are based on trust.
We trust that we will somehow pick up on someone who is not worthy of our trust in time to limit the damage.
We are all vulnerable and when someone comes forward gracefully and in trust, as you did, of course we want to support you–and one another.
Warren,
It shows true character to admit your mistakes and to apologize for them. I don’t remember seeing the “spam”, but I am impressed that you took responsibility. Unfortunately, no every one is honest and doesn’t care to be.
When something like this happens, the best example to follow is Tylenol. Even though it was not their fault that someone used their product to commit murder, they were honest and forthright about the problem, recalled their products, and came up with a solution. They gained far more in public goodwill than they they lost by product tampering.
You’ve done the same. By blogging about this unfortunate incident, and owning up to what could be perceived as a mistake on your part, you will gain far more good will. Good job.
Wow!
Hey Carol Buchanan, …”When something like this happens, the best example to follow is Tylenol”
Or how about a good stiff drink:)
Cheers!
Warren, You did the right thing, and I used you as an example in my blog post today at my website. How to admit mistakes, be more human, and learn to Live Life–Lite! Yes, the consequences may have been bad, but your followers respect you even more because of the actions you took in attempting to correct your mistake.
Thanks for posting this great illustration of something I was just blogging about yesterday! Great coincidence!
Trina Hess
I personally do use automated tweets as part of the package I deliver to Twitter and elsewhere. What I don’t do is make every one of those tweets about “buy my widget” as I do believe that causes you to become unpopular very fast.
Because my auto tweets are always new and different I see people tweet them all the time. I also have some teleseminars that people tweet, though I mix those up too so that its not always the same message.
People watch the same commercial more than once, and in my opinion they can deal with the same tweet as long as it is not overdone. Besides, those who see the tweet once are not necessarily going to see the tweet next time it posts.
Am I wrong for using auto tweets? I don’t think so. Would I be wrong to use auto tweets to just market my products or tell people who I am? Yup.
Guy
When I get your auto tweets, I say: “Dang, I like Guy, but I really ought to unfollow this”.. I dont, but I know some people do.
Every one of them looks like a canned message. Not about me or a conversation we are having.. it’s all about you interupting me for a sales message.
You are right. Some people have different tolerances for commercials and ads. “overdone” is in the eye of the beholder. If you are comfortable with some that don’t like you, then I would never tell you not to do it.
Some people dislike some of my tweets. I know that I’ve been unfollowed due to frequency or content. I’ve made the decision that I can serve more people by answering more people so I continue.
NO RULES.
The post was about abuse of my name. I’ve seen this trend growing.. tweeps think that including a name will get attention. (It doesn’t.. it does not appear in my followers stream, just mine
Clearly, this is NOT you Guy. The post issue was dozens of tweets and reference to me.
Warren, you did the best you could. We’ve all been burned every now and then. Fortunately, great, giving people (like you) outnumber schmucks 100 to 1.
I like the Johnson & Johnson Tylenol analogy. I didn’t actually see the problem tweets, but it sounds like you were the innocent victim who took responsibility–just as J&J did.