I'm in the fortunate position of being able to pretend - to myself, at least - that Twitter amounts to more than an enjoyable waste of time. As the regular keeper of the Twitter.com/PCAdvisor flame, I am at least in part paid to, well, Tweet.
Twitter offers PC Advisor the opportunity to converse with our readers in a closer and more informal manner. It allows us to disseminate information to a wider audience and a different demographic and, in essence, it generates page impressions. But let's face it - Twitter is a brilliantly effective communication tool that's almost always used for pointless reasons.
That may not always be the case, and there are plenty of businesses who see Twitter's PR and customer relations potential. But for all those that get it right, there will always be several companies who try to bend Twitter to their own ends, and just don't get it.
In the early days of the web, every business rushed to get a website, and then stopped to think about what to do with it. So it is now with social media. The thought process is: we need a social presence, so let's get on Twitter and Facebook. But if it's not done properly, the results are worse than not being involved at all. I have examples:
Last year, in the midst of a Kafka-esque struggle through BT customer service, I took time out to have a gentle moan on Twitter. Within minutes I was contacted by a BT Twitter feed, saying sorry for any inconvenience and asking if they/it could help. So far, so brilliant. I immediately felt better toward BT than I had from speaking to any number of call-centre worker bees.
Only trouble is, when I replied with some details, nothing happened. And, indeed, the next time I complained, I was sent exactly the same automated message. Far from feeling warm and fuzzy toward BT, I now felt like they were taking the mickey. Good effort, bad PR.
Followers of my personal Twitter feed (twitter.com/MattJEgan) may have noticed earlier today that I was less than impressed with the lack of shower gel at the gym I frequent - and pay a not inconsiderable amount for. They may not be aware that within an hour or so of me posting my grumble, one Mr D. Bannatyne - BBC Dragon, businessman and owner of said gym - was on the phone to me, my boss (!) and one of my colleagues (a fellow gym user who had the temerity to agree with and retweet my comment).
For full disclosure: I was in a meeting when the call came. (Fortunately, so was my boss.) But my colleague Mark Hattersley, editor in chief of the Macworld UK group, took the call.
According to (respected journalist) Mark, Duncan asked why Mark was 'slagging him off' in public, and inquired of my colleague what he thought of 'UK libel laws and Twitter'. Then he accused my so-laid-back-he's-virtually-horizontal colleague of being thin-skinned and paranoid. He suggested that an amused Mark was 'upset'. There was also some talk of man-to-man discussions, cowardice and... well... the usual stuff that happens when businessmen talk to journalists.
As I say, I didn't take the call, and Mr Bannatyne has yet to phone me back. (I will be more than happy to talk - on the record - if he does so. If nothing else I want to complain about the shower gel situation.)
For even fuller disclosure, here is my original Tweet:
"Shower gel in only two of eight showers, two of which are broken. Truly bannatyne's gym tavistock square, you are a piss poor establishment."
Clearly, I could have said something to the staff at the gym. And I didn't need to use the fruity language. There are worse gyms, and I remain a largely satisfied customer.
But the fact about the showers is true. I pay a lot of money to use them, and I've complained to the staff about this before, with no discernible response. (And I just wanted to vent.)
So what was the result of Bannatyne's strange reaction? Well right now all my colleagues are talking of little else, and they're not saying nice things about the gym we all frequent. That would not be the case if he'd simply left it alone.
And there will be a great deal of scrutiny of the showers next time we all rock up.
To give Bannatyne his due, he has subsequently been in touch via Twitter, and there has been some (modicum of) joking. He has come across as someone who can laugh at himself and he clearly knows a lot more about running gyms than I do. But given that he at least appears to have a sense of humour, how difficult would it have been to either ignore my Tweet, or respond positively? Either way, surely the best reaction would have been to ask the gym staff about the shower gel situation?
As it is, an opportunity to generate some good PR has been wasted. And I may have to start taking soap to the gym.
Bannatyne: "Entrepreneur, Author, Philanthropist and star of Dragons' Den" (his words)
Comments
Matt Egan said: Im happy to accept that it wasnt my wisest ever move - As I mentioned above I was very grumpy Its far from the first time Ive had to stumble around five or six different shower cubicles post a hefty workout in order to get a wash Not much fun when youre a paying customer So I vented with hilarious consequences
Anne said: I think the thing that bothered me was this why post it on TwitterI guess the point I was making was not that the reaction was proportionate but that I hadnt expected to see that in the original tweet
Matt Egan said: I accept that my comment doesnt put me in a good light but the reaction was well unfortunate And trust me - if I repeated everything verbatim everything DB has said to my colleagues and boss it would be a much bigger but less interesting story Twitter is at once a more personal but more public way of businesses communicating with customers And it blurs the line between the personal and professional We all need to work out how that affects what we Tweet
Matt Egan said: Anne - as the editor of PC Advisor I do have a basic understanding of libel law and youre largely correct in your analysis although my lawyer licked his lips at the idea of me being sued for the posting - he suggested I read up on fair comment and get ready for a short-lived high profile mainstream media career The morals of UK libel law can be dictated another time My point is only this a Im amazed a man as busy as DB has time to care about throwaway comments on Twitter of which there are many b given that how much better would it be if he contacted me to tell me he was working on the situation and had mentioned it to his team Immediate PR win
Anne said: Oh goodness dont listen to the advice in the comments because a lot of it is so ill-informed its not even funny Passing comment can indeed be libellous For example food reviews in national papers tend to be some of the most carefully subbed and heavily legalled articles in thereStating that a gym has no shower gel in it fact Okay fine I was sympatheticincredulous until I got to reading what you put in the tweet Dearie me It is a very big leap from a there is no shower gel in the toilets to b making a sweeping statement about the whole establishmentIm sorry but thats exactly the kind of thing that can indeed get you done for libel Saying there wasnt any shower gel wont lower right-minded peoples opinion of Bannatyne or damage his tradebusiness But what you said potentially will Most subs of which I am one among other things would either remove that or insist on getting it legalled before allowing it into printSeriously Read McNae
Ian said: Interesting Some companies on the other hand are excellent I recently posted a quick question on Twitter about Adobe Air and within a day had helpful responses from no less than five Adobe techs
@WRF1 said: Can we RT on ur phone
Twibel, I mean libel said: I had a recent run in with someone over a comment on the source code on their websiteI tweeted that it was horrid and they tried playing the libel cardLast time I checked passing comment on something isnt libellousAnyway when stalking yourself on Twitter google etc dont expect it all to be smelling of roses in fact some of it will smell like shitWhich apparently so will Mr Banana-times toilets if they dont sort the flushing issue
L2good said: Folks r trying 2 egg him on hes trying to remain professional about it but by slogging you back without mentioning your names he is in fact worrying too much about uping the ante on your profile when he COULD be uping the ante on his own by reading the article above and following up with BETTER Public Relations Hallo PRfail
actually... said: To the person who suggested piss poor would be a better description if the toilets didnt work There are four toilets in the ladies Flush one and none of the others will The wash rooms there need gutting
@Mark Hattersley said: There seems to be a typo in the last word of your recent post But I wouldnt expect anything less from a Macworld editor
Mark Hattersley said: It was an interesting and not completely un-amusing conversationRe Twitter and Libel I think there is test case in the US between Horizon and a Twitter user Nothing in the UK so farBut thinking that a moan about a lack of shower gel in a gym is libellous shows a lack of respect for libel lawThe Sun calling Gary Glitter a peadophile was libellous with a truth defence stating that a shower in a gym has no gel in it isnt For something to be libellous it has to significantly lower your standing in the estimation of your peers amongst right-minded peopleBasically Duncan Bannatyne would have to argue in court that somebody twittering that a Bannatyne gym only had two shower gels working in it significantly lowered right-minded peoples estimation of him personallyI dont claim to be an expert in libel law Im not a lawyer Ive picked up a few tips along the way and even I can see the flaw in this argumentCont
Mark Hattersley said: But yes Duncan Bannatyne would be wise to spend more money on PR and waste less time on Twitter and ruining his own reputation amongst the tech press But hey hes got 310million in the bank if Wikipedia is to be believed Clearly hes got both time and money to wasteSorry if I dont expand any further than this I have to get back to cranking the Apple Tablet rumour mill See you later PC peeps
Interesting... said: that Bannatyne should talk about Twitter and libel laws As far as I know there has not yet been a case where a person has tried to sue for libel relating to a Twitter comment so this would be breaking new ground It seems unlikely that the ruling would go in Bannatynes favour and hed end up out of pocket and his lawyers would advise him of this before he could even take actionMr B needs to think less about spending money on lawyers and more about spending money on public relations and by all accounts shower gel
Matt Egan said: Perhaps we should keep comments to the TwitterPR side of things
Buncan Dannatyne said: Piss poor would be if there was a problem with the toilets Which there is - Ive lost count of the number of times the lefthand cubicle is blocked up with detritus
Matt Egan said: AJ - of course youre right but after trying six showers Id lost any sense of humour about the issue
Twitter Time Waster said: Ross Noble the comedian had a run in with Bannatyne over Twitter To say he can laugh at himself is stretching things a little
AJ said: Well piss poor does seem a bit much for a lack of shower gelPiss poor would be appropriate if there was a lack of gym equipment in a gym
mc homo said: Stop bannatyne