Furniture chain Habitat has come under fire this week for tweeting unethically. Half the world tweeting for news tagged #Iran were surprised to find details of the furniture chain’s lovely new spring range popping up.
Twitter has become a vitally important means of communication for the opposition movement in Iran, as the authorities have blocked access to email and news sites.
By exploiting ‘hashtags’ (keywords that allow Twitter users to follow popular topics) on the social networking site, Habitat were able to increase their following and promote their products to unsuspecting social networkers.
So, for example, people searching for tweets relating to ‘#Iran’ would learn all about embroidered cushions and impressive swags at Habitat. One alert from Habitat even linked the name of the Iranian opposition leader, Mirhossein Monsari, with their furniture.
Other search terms manipulated by Habitat as part of this scheme were ‘Apple iPhone’ and, bizarrely, the name of an Australian television personality.
The tweets have been received with a barrage of criticism, with one Tweeter branding Habitat “scum” and several commenting that they had “destroyed their brand” for good. The plot has been described by angry Twitter fans, who believe Habitat have abused the social networking site as a marketing tool, as ‘spamming’.
Habitat has blamed the rogue tweeting on an “overenthusiastic intern” and has said that although they did not authorise the use of Twitter in this way, it is not down to hacking.
This is the most prominent example of social networking strategy receiving backlash to date. More and more companies are using Twitter and other social networking sites to promote themselves – but before jumping on the bandwagon it is important to think about what you are going to ‘tweet’ and how you are going to do it. Only post messages that are likely to be of interest to the audience you are targeting, and always think before you tweet – once your words are out there you can’t take them back.
Posted in Latest Media Training News | 1 Comment »
July 2nd, 2009 at 11:40 am
HA! Next they’ll be tagging Michael Jackson…oh wait…