Horizon Realty grapples with the reality of social media

One of the main trending topics on Twitter today is Horizon Realty. According to Mashable, the company is suing a woman for $50,000 over a tweet that one of its Chicago apartments she rented was moldy.

Mashable's story, which references an article in the Chicago Sun-Times, says that the company did not attempt to contact the woman who posted the tweet or ask her to remove it. Instead, a Horizon Realty rep, Jeffrey Michael, said, "We're a sue first, ask question later kind of an organization."

And with that, a tweet that, at best, less than two dozen people originally saw, became a topic of discussion among thousands and thousands of people on Twitter. And you can imagine the kind of commentary it has generated about Horizon. Makes you wonder how many lawsuits the company could conceivably file, given the quote above.

Here's the thing: Whether the post was factual or not, Horizon really should have done a reach out to the customer first. By launching a lawsuit, the company has drawn attention to itself and stirred up a hornets' nest of unflattering comments. No doubt more media outlets will pick up the story, inviting or encouraging more scornful commentary. That's how a PR nightmare is born. The comment about suing first really doesn't help the company's brand either. Now, it will have to expend time, money and energy trying to rehabilitate its rep, all of which it could have avoided if it chose to handle the situation differently.

Ultimately, this is another example of why you want to very carefully consider any measures you take when dealing with customers in any forum, particularly social media. Because it only takes one comment by a company rep to fan the flames of hostility on the internet and make your company internationally infamous. That's the kind of property damage you can't easily repair.

Palm Pre girl is a rock, she is an island

Though visually very impressive (Tarsem!) I just feel enervated by the The Palm Pre Girl commercials. I mean, here's this girl talking in disconnected vaguely poetic speech patters more halting than William Shatner about her life never once noticing that she is surrounded by people twirling and rearranging themselves for her. Talk about solipsistic. It's like the Palm Pre ads are saying, 'Forget about the world beyond you. Enjoy this shiny object that makes you think you control it.'

So I'm pleased to say that someone has decided to chronicle the life of the Palm Pre Girl on Twitter with brilliant non-sequiturs like, This rock. I've decided. To name it Sylvester' and 'It's hard to tweet. And juggle.' If the Palm Pre ads had half this much wit, I'd take more notice of them...

Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme GM

I've been wondering where GMs social media campaign is as it tries to reboot itself and its image in the eyes of consumers. Today, I get a notice on Twitter that GMintervention is following me (I'm @MrWordsWorth).

The stream, which started on June 4, is promoted as a window into the car company's reinvention. There are 40+ updates and they aren't terribly insightful. The company is basically pushing info that it must hope will drive people to GMs website for more details.

Not one of the 40+ updates is a response to or reflects an attempt to engage with users online. I know, it's only about a week and a half, but you'd think that GM would be using social media in, well, a social way.

Instead, it's like going to a party and running into someone who dominates the conversation with this and that of import to him, never stopping to consider that you might like to join in the conversation. He's too busy telling you what he's doing, he never takes a moment to listen to you to see how he can help you, or benefit from what you have to say. And if there were ever a time when GM needed engaged, supportive customers, it's now.

I'll be keeping an eye on the stream to see if GM reps do decide to actually turn their solipsistic chatter into a dialogue. But for now, GM, when it comes to social media, you're doing it wrong. A marketing expert needs to stage an intervention in this reinvention to actually prompt the company to be, you know, different.

Why can't we be friends on Twitter?

Social media. It's about being social. So it surprises me that there are people on Twitter who can follow me, but I can't see their stream unless I register with them as a follower.

I guess they think they are special. I guess they think that they have something proprietary. But it reminds me of the days in school when kids had gum but wouldn't share it. Or they picked me last for the team in gym class. There's something vaguely elitist about it. If you aren't going to be open and social, why be on Twitter?

My feed - @MrWordsWorth - is open to any and all to join. And if you aren't trying to sell me on something that will make me rich, or you have an interest that parallels one of mine, I'll follow you back. But if you are going to put restrictions on how social you are, then you're being anti-social. I say loosen up. Open up your heart and let the sunshine in.

Be discrete when you tweet, blog, etc.

Yesterday, in commenting on the leaked conversations of Canadian Natural Resource Minister Lisa Raitt, I stressed the importance of choosing every word you say carefully, even in private conversations. It should go without saying, but it's also good advice to watch what you say in public forums.

Take this story , for instance. Israel Hyman suspects the fact that his home was burglarized could be linked to the tweets he sent to his 2,000 followers about his vacation plans. While he having a lovely time in Kansas City seeing concerts, his home was relieved of several thousand dollars of video equipment.

Maybe, just maybe, there is no relation between the theft and the tweets. But telling 2,000 followers you aren't home is an inadvertent invitation or advertisement to assorted nogoodniks to come and avail themselves of your prized possessions. It also, probably, isn't the kind of information you should be tweeting to 2,000 people, only some of whom you are likely to know in such intimate detail that you can name their favorite color, movie, first pet, etc.

And yet, even I have been naive enough to post Twitter and Facebook messages in the past month proclaiming that I was living it up in Maine. (At least to the extent that the law allows you to live it up in picturesque, rosy-cheeked New England states.) So, I'm not making an example of Hyman's mistake to show myself up as a hypocrite. It's more to acknowledge we are all capable (even me), at times, of revealing too much information in public.

It's easy to do, particularly with social media tools, which are built on immediacy. You can connect, in an instant, to hundreds, even thousands, of people around the world. People like and unlike you. People with differing views, beliefs and mores than you. People who may take offense at, or advantage of, the thoughts you express or the things you do, in part because they don't share your views, beliefs or mores. Other times, it may be because they do not know you well enough to gauge your true intent.

These people may not come to your house and take your electronics while you frolic in the Florida Keys. They could, however, pass you over for a lucrative contract or position based on something you've posted, and you may never know the reason why. They could use the material you post in ways you never intended or imagined. Or, they could damage your reputation or brand by disseminating that material to their colleagues. And I haven't even covered the potential for idea theft, copyright infringement, or identity theft from posting sensitive information.

It's such a drag to be the voice that says think before you speak, and a hard position to defend when I don't always walk the walk. But the more reflection you give to every post, tweet or snapshot you upload, the less you risk harm to your integrity, business or home tweet home. And that's one to grow on...