Right to reply: HMV Twitter hijack shows perils of neglecting social media

This week saw disgruntled HMV staff bite back on Twitter to report mass firings as they happened. Jason Woodford, CEO of digital marketing agency, SiteVisibility, looks at how social media has changed employee relations- and how HMV could have handled the debacle differently.

Firstly let’s hope whoever buys the business, if someone does of course, that they have a stringent digital strategy in place. A brand as recognisable and as large as HMV shouldn’t be getting blind-sided by their employees on the internet, even if they are set to be made redundant.
The world of eCommerce is tightly knit and well connected, so I hope people aren’t tempted to inadvertently burn their bridges as they share their momentary misfortune. We are talking about one of the largest high street brands here. And whilst we were all fully aware that the organisation would likely be making a round of redundancies in the not too distant future, this Twitter faux pas has seriously put a black mark against its social media ethics and general know-how.
It’s been noted that its senior marketing management are asking how to close down their own Twitter account; it shouldn’t be a question asked at that level. If they need it done then they should just do it. It’s clear that too many people along the chain have got hold of the Twitter account details and have exploited HMV’s vulnerable position. This has led to a brand new dilemma in which ultimately ends in them closing their Twitter account. Unhappy staff, unhappy customers and it all publicised over the internet, senior management there must be wondering – can get any worse right now?
However, by shutting the account down now would make for a poor and ill-advised PR move. What people will appreciate now is honesty and transparency it’s just a shame that via their now former employees have provided a bit too much of the latter already.
By Jason Woodford
CEO
SiteVisibility
http://www.sitevisibility.co.uk/