John Jantsch's Using Twitter for Business article gave some great insights into the value of organizational use of Twitter. I was intrigued reading about the success Dell had found through this media and immediately turned my attention to Toyota, who is probably suffering through one of the worse public relations problems in quite some time. Certainly, Twitter would have to provide some advantages against the persistent media coverage that could allow the company to speak to people more directly? It turns out that Toyota has done just that, the company has taken to Twitter and issued a variety of statements, apologies, information, and updates. Toyota is really utilizing the site to effectively communicate with the masses, although it is almost entirely impossible to directly answer the overwhelming questions and concerns constantly flooding their page. The company is using Tweetdeck to track what is being said and to address and engage with as many issues as possible. It appears that Toyota is doing a more efficient job with their social media use than their pr image nurturing when you considering that Toyota's president took far too long to make an official statement. As a Toyota owner, I am somewhat comforted by the efforts I read about on their Twitter page, information that is not available through the media sensationalizing. Just to illustrate how much is being tweeted about the company; in the span of time it took me to write this blog (roughly 15-20 mins), Toyota has been tweeted to or about 319 times! Please share your thoughts, comments, and opinions. How do you think Toyota is doing? Is it possible they could use Twitter more effectively? What other companies do you think could benefit from better Twitter usage?
Personally, I don't think Twitter is appropriate for this crisis. I think blogs and vlogs are more appropriate. I don't think that the text contsraints of Twitter allow for Toyota to express themselves sufficently. There are many pieces that make up an apology. For example, one may want to express empathy, plan for the present, as well as a plan for the future- all of this cannot be expressed in just one Tweet.
ReplyDeleteMultiple Tweets discussing the crisis indicates dedication, but it may also not allow for Twitter to have a concise, strong message.
Eileen, thanks so much for the feedback. I definitely agree with some of your points. I think where Toyota is experiencing success with Tweeter is through some of the messages that counter false claims and bad information. I agree that the mainstream media apologies and information sharing should be conducted on a much larger scale but repeated quick Twitter apologies and updates certainly cannot hurt. The biggest thing for Toyota is to have a medium that reaches mass consumers that allows them to provide information and respond to attacks that would potentially not get out through traditional media, if it is not considered "news worthy" enough.
ReplyDelete