A pen can be used to write someone a love letter or to stab them in the eye. Like most tools, “Twitter lists” can be used for good or evil.
Twitter’s new feature enables users to group and label other tweeters for public display or private use. Whether it’s “the most influential” or “the least interesting,” lists have the potential to land companies on the list of “Top PR Gaffes.” Before companies get lost in list bliss, they should think about the following 5 ways lists can lead to trouble.
1. Private Lists are Revealed for All to See
Twitter’s list technology, like Twitter itself, is in its infancy. Evil doers are constantly devising ways to take advantage of Twitter’s technological weaknesses. In fact, we recently learned that hackers have found a way to access private direct messages. It’s only a matter of time before these trouble makers can make private lists public. Be careful not to create a “most annoying customers” list that could be exposed.
2. Private Purchases are Made Public
A Mashable blogger recently suggested that companies create a public list of their customers as a way to reward them through recognition. This reminded me of the time that Facebook was sued for listing the purchases of friends for others to see. If you’re considering publicizing your customer list, make sure you have the expressed permission from the customer to do so, especially if you’re selling sex toys. You could also end up making your customers vulnerable to cyber-stalking. Besides, who wants to list their customers for all their competitors to see?
3. Your Customers Consider you Catty
When I was in the eighth grade, a group of boys created a list of all the girls in the most popular clique and ranked them from 1-10 based on how pretty they were. For many people, the simple idea of these lists is distasteful and potentially hurtful. In fact, many people are choosing to shun the feature all together. If you create lists of the most influential people in your industry, for example, and leave someone off, he or she might hold it against you.
4. You Give Someone’s Location Away
Another suggestion from the Mashable blogger was that conferences create lists of their attendees. There are a host of reasons why someone might not want to be included on such a list. Maybe you’re attending the competitor’s conference or you’re a reporter who doesn’t want to be overwhelmed with requests for meetings. If it’s a conference that’s not work related, such as a yoga conference, your boss could find out why you really skipped work. Again, if you’re a conference organizer, make sure to get permission to post attendees on a public list.
5. Your Company Makes One of the Worst Lists
Companies don’t have to create lists for lists to become a public relations nightmare. What happens if your company makes the “worst customer service” list? Do you sue the list creator for slander? Companies will have to think of creative ways outside of court to appease negative list creators so their names are erased.
Once you slap a label on someone, you’re stuck with a great responsibility. I’m sure we’ll see a plethora of ways that lists can be used to damage reputations. What have I left out?
More from keyword Communication
- 7 Steps to Turn Your PR Inside Out
- Public Relations and SEO: Friends or Foes?
- Six Ways to Ignite a LinkedIn Discussion
keyword Communication Recommends
- Social Media - The Branding Benefits
- Top 5 Web Site Success Factors
- Measuring the ROI of Social Media
some comments
There are currently 10 of themreply
RSS Feed Subscription
Recommend
|
![Recommend [keyword]](http://s3.amazonaws.com/arkayne-media/img/badge/logo-recommend-badge-medium.png){kind=icon}
|
|
|
family
I agree with this wholeheartedly, even though I know many disagree with this philosophy. When the feature was introduced–thought–ok this is cool–and I made up folders–but still could not bring myself to do it. As I’ve never labelled or categorized people in real life, why would I ever do it on twitter?
I hear you Sue. Thanks so much for sharing your opinion.
These are all very good points. I personally have found the lists feature to be helpful in keeping track of the people I follow by industry, but I can definitely see the pitfalls of this practice. Thank you for this informative post.
I really appreciate your positive feedback Suzanne. Many thanks for your comment.
Good points. I think these lists are a lot of work and its easy to leave people off. Its helpful to have a starting point for a new client, but its just a start and not the be all end all.
so. . . what about creating lists that people can OPT-IN and OPT-OUT on their own?
Shari, I think creating lists that people can opt-in and opt-out of is a great idea and essential.
You’ve nailed this Amy. A very interesting piece and very funny too. I’m starting to worry that Twitter is stretching itself too far beyond why most people enjoy and use it. Maybe the world of social media demands this constant flux and reinvention but I’m not sure this categorisation stuff does Twitter, or more importantly it’s users, any favours.
Amy — excellent post. In certain respects we give up our personal privacy when we are registered and active on various social media sites. So we need to be extra careful we don’t expose clients and others to even more potential breaches of their privacy.
I like the idea of opting in or out. The lists are helpful in our industry but it feels a bit like high school.