Under the influence

I used to imagine what I'd do if I ever got famous.

I could see myself with an Oscar in one hand and a huge donation check to a worthy charity in the other, probably because my twisted uber religious mind believed that if I vowed benevolence, He'd grant me the wish of celebrity.

I'd use my fame for you, Lord Jesus.

Yeah, me and Heidi Montag.

But the the celebrity never came.

My 2600 some odd followers on Twitter, and my combined readership at this blog, Cool Mom Picks, and the Mominatrix hardly equal fame.

But yet, the power of the internet is pretty far reaching.

The words you say are carried to the eyes of many, who have easy access to Facebook, Twitter, and Google searches, and all of a sudden, people who would have just faded away into a crowd are given a bullhorn.

The issue surrounding Heather and Linda's exchange about a faulty Maytag washer that fueled a discussion more heated than health care reform is a lesson in the power of Twitter and social media.

It was obvious that Heather was frustrated, as I would have been, when her new washer didn't work. And so she vented on Twitter, on her bullhorn to the masses, and a pile-on ensued.

Now I've done my fair share of venting on Twitter and people still amazingly buy Crocs.

I also don't have a million plus followers.

That's not to say if I did that I wouldn't be inclined to vent about my disdain for them, or any other company that really pissed me off. I can't fault her for that - new mom haze or not.

But just because we're given an instrument to reach the mob doesn't mean we're completely educated on how to use it - drunk updates or disgruntled tweets from a sleep-deprived mom with piling up dirty laundry - the influence can be difficult to wrangle. And we forget that people are listening.

They're reading what we say.

But even more importantly, they're reading it whether we have 20 or 20,000 followers.

I've been shocked by some of the nasty words and personal attacks on Twitter. I've seen people bitch about companies and products and services, sometimes with reckless abandon.

Her lesson should be our lesson.

Know the power of your written words, regardless of who you are. Because if you think that people aren't reading and you think people can't find you, then you're sorely mistaken.

Comments

[Morin27Lorrie]

It's cool that people can receive the business loans moreover, this opens completely new chances.

[Danielle Miller]

I did not read the tweets you are referring to, so I am speaking generally.

I think that the responsibility in the social media forum is to stay true to the reason you're using that source. I'm on facebook to talk to family and friends. I have my blog to talk about small business and saving money, and value for money. Therefore, if I have a complaint about a specific product or service, it's important for me to point it out as not being a good value for the money. If that comes with an emotional rant, then that is the voice of my personal experience. Without that, I'm just a product whore. Giving my own experience is what makes it mine.

Also, this part kind of gets me angry. So excuse the bitchiness. We don't need to be educated on how to use the media instrument we're given because we have this thing called freedom of speech in this country. Of course, it's one of those pseudo freedoms that we like to uphold as being important, but no one lets anyone actually say anything. How far reaching does corporate control need to be? Not only do we give our lives to corporations for our jobs, and give our money to corporations for their products, we're also supposed to give our minds? Complaining with reckless abandon when we feel wronged is one of the BENEFITS of social media. If we aren't to talk about our personal experiences, then what the fuck do we have?

[Kate]

Sorry, I'm on Heather's side on this one. I think that she provided an honest review of Maytag's customer service and that they should be ashamed of it. Hopefully, it will help them to realize how they need to improve their customer's experiences. Now I would feel differently if she wasn't telling the truth or was exagerating. She told her experience and pretty factually.

[Miss Behavin]

Tweet with integrity!

[Tracy]

I think it's great that words can be powerful. When I was in journalism school, that was one of the first thing taught. Unfortunately, from my daily experience, after all sorts of disappointments, I forget how powerful it can be.
Heather's experience can be seen as something awesome. Hey, imho, more power to Heather. Glad to know that she got her machine fixed, etc. If I were her, I won't even give 'excuse' on how she was sleep-deprived or whatnot, it's her right as a consumer to vent when the product (expensive one at that) broke and the company just didn't handle it right.

Plus, sleep deprived or not, I'd be super pissed off and be spouting off whether on my blog or toward people around me. :p That's just me, and 1300 ain't tiny amount of money in my household.

Fortunately, for those who directly-indirectly agree to her action, I don't tweet, has any tweeter account or followers. :) Although if I were her, the first course of action instead of tweeting will be writing to the BBB.

[marty]

How about an opinion on the extreme other side? That because Heather has a voice, she *should* call out customer service that appalling and a product that unworthy of purchase?

However, I'm actually tired of bloggers telling each other what their responsibilities are, so I'm not really offering that opinion. We should each be deciding that for ourselves - both as writers and as readers or followers.

To be quite frank, I consider the people who called Heather out in real time this weekend to be pretty arrogant.

I agree with a lot of your post, however. People are listening, and we need to be accountable for what we are saying.

We all have our things though. I've gone after vets and Whole Foods and think Johnson and Johnson sucks rocks, you hate Crocs, Mom 101 is linking to articles calling for boycotts of Totes today, and I've even seen a very powerful blogger call for a boycott of Chick-fil-a on her FB page supposedly over anti-breastfeeding, but really turned out that she just doesn't like their religious ties.

My responsibility as a reader is to take everything people write with a grain of salt. Read it for myself. Analyze it. Research it if needed.

Heather had every right and reason to call Maytag out on Twitter. Anyone who was treated as she was has the same right. It's up to them if they choose to exercise it.

This comment brought to you by my craptastic Monday and shitloads of pregnancy hormones.

[Angel@CheekySweetie]

I have to say that without bringing my problem with Bing serving up a family photo of my seven year old daughter in a search for pedo terms up in a post, and friends tweeting about it, I don't think I'd have ever gotten a response to my many requests for help. There is a responsibility on our part, but there is also a responsibility on the part of the products and services we support. Delivering what they promise is not too much to expect, and if they fail to do so, they should be held accountable.

Word of mouth has always been recognized as the single most powerful form of marketing a company can utilize. Word of mouth reaches farther today than ever before and I think both the producer and consumer sides of the equation will continue to have some growing pains as we adjust.

[Karen]

You know, a few years ago I had an experience where I took my car into the shop for a tune-up. The mechanic misread the work order, thought it was an oil change, and dumped the oil out and then went for lunch. After lunch, someone else finished the tune up and the car was given back to me, sans oil. I drove it off the lot and the engine seized and was virtually destroyed. The mechanic admitted his mistake but the store (which is part of a chain) would not take responsibility. The individual franchise owner filed a restraining order so I COULD NOT ENTER HIS STORE AGAIN. The owner of the company and his customer service people refused to speak to me. Finally, after legal action and no end of stress and expense, the franchise owner agreed to put a rebuilt engine in my car if I paid for half. THEN HE DOUBLED THE PRICE. I was completely and totally impotent to do anything. My lawyer told me it would take five years to get it in front of the courts. (Sorry, I know this is a long story, but I am trying to make a point, I think.) If Twitter and other social media had been around THEN, I could have shared my story and made an impact on a business that ended up costing me thousands of dollars. I could have stood up and said, "This is NOT OK. No one should accept being treated this way." Which is what I said to the franchise owner. AND THEN THE FRANCHISE OWNER CALLED ME A C*&! AND PHYSICALLY THREW ME OUT OF HIS STORE. I sincerely regret that I did not have a Twitter-like platform to call my followers to arms. It's about time there was a way for consumers to actually speak up and be listened to, instead of being told -- as I was -- that there was nothing I could do about it.

On a related note (sorry this is painfully long), when I was looking for a washer/dryer a few months ago, I found not just dozens but HUNDREDS of stories posted on the web about front-loaders that didn't work that the companies refused to fix, warranties be damned, and lives that were actually severely impacted by the ensuing costs and months of exchanges with the companies in question. I think it's great that Dooce had the power to actually get through. More power to her. I wish everyone was granted the same respect that Maytag ultimately gave to her.

[Angela]

Couldn't step back from the ledge? ;)

Seriously speaking, that was very well said. I think this incident (and I'm using that word lightly as I read those tweets as nothing more than venting) was a great way to start a discussion on the responsibilites that come from using social media.

I had originally felt that with great audiences comes great responsibility. After all I could have said the same thing with my 237 followers, and no one would have thrown a fit. But I think that's wrong. We all have a responsibility to carefully consider our words. The internet just isn't as anonymous as it used to be.

Great post, Kristen.

[Liz]

Such a great lesson to keep in mind. I think we're all still learning how to use social media, and many of us don't realize the responsibility that comes along with it. Great post!

[jenB]

ummm. Yes. What you said.

[Maria]

You already know I disagree regarding whether or not Heather's tweets were a call to action.

But as I said in my post the other day, these companies have interns and employees spending entire days scouring Twitter for mentions. Companies are listening, whether you have 15 followers or 500,000 followers. So I'm with you there.

I think the point you bring up here is something we all need to remember, not necessarily in terms of the complaints we make about businesses, but the complaints we make about family/spouses/friends.

Someone is always listening.

[Michael]

I think dooce did exactly the right thing-and we should all do the same.

In the age of social media, smart companies will be on the lookout for disgruntled customers, and hope to make them gruntled again.

Dumb companies won't, and they will get their reputations trashed, and they will die.

Sounds fair to me.

[amy2boys]

Bravo! Excellent post. I hope everyone reads it.

[Megan {Velveteen Mind}]

The line between "this is my platform and I'll use it to express myself any damn way I please" and recognizing some modicum of responsibility in how you wield your bullhorn is a fine one to dance.

Just this weekend, I had to deal with yet another plagiarizer. I was tempted to outright out her to all of my followers (many of whom followed her on twitter, as well), I was so frustrated. Not a scraper, but someone that was subtly inserting my writing into her own, as her own. I wanted to scream "Enough!" and unleash the dogs... but I didn't. I couldn't. It was a real person, making a mistake.

I appreciate how you presented this story. Just one of many, as we all figure this out.

[Motherhood Uncensored]

And great point Amanda. I didn't read her tweets as a call to action or a boycott. I read tired, frustrated mom who just bought a new washer that didn't work.

I'd be pissed.

[Motherhood Uncensored]

@Adrienne - I don't completely disagree with Heather's choice to vent. I'd probably do the same thing, quite frankly.

I think my point was that we often forget, when we're chatting away on Twitter, that people are reading and that our words can be pretty powerful.

I think people were very focused on her number of followers, but with companies able to search Twitter, anyone who tweets about anything can be found. And I imagine they should still care whether it's someone with tons of followers or just a few. It doesn't take much influence to make waves on the internet.

[Jennifer]

Very thoughtful. I've recently been considering this myself. Well done.

[Bailey]

If her experience had been mine, what would be my recourse? What would have been the resolution? She fell through the cracks in a lousy system and had the power to call them on it. When someone with power or influence takes up the torch it's the beginning of real change (and that's for any cause). I'm grateful.

[amanda]

I think, and I say this at the risk of sounding like a naive ass, it goes back to a thread of, "If you can't say anything nice..." only instead of the don't say anything at all bit, it's "Go ahead and say it, but do so knowing that your words will echo, and they may get heard and interpreted in ways far beyond your intention or control.

[Fairly Odd Mother]

Ha! I knew you'd have to say something about this. . .

Personally, I think what Heather said about Maytag was just honest frustration. The Nikon hates babies thing bugged me more b/c it was just irresponsible. Heather should be able to say she hates Maytag and Oprah should be able to say she doesn't want to eat a hamburger. But, they need to understand they could be hauled off to court for liable too. Not all of us have pockets as deep as Oprah.

[Misha]

I think if you have an actually problem with a company...12 followers or a million, you should have the basic right to say exactly how you feel.... if maytag hadn't taken care of their customer, they'd have no reason to be ashamed.... i spend that much cash on a washing machine, and can't use it for ages, after splurging on the 10 year warrenty, I'd be hacked, new mommy haze or no.... companies know that word of mouth can either help or hinder them...it would do them well to realize in this day and age with info so easy to grab, that they would want to beat that particular little memo into their customer services brains....

[Adrienne]

I want to preface my post by saying that I love you and adore you and adore this blog...and it pains me to say that I have to disagree with you on this one.

I completely agree with what Dooce did, and in fact laughed like crazy when I read the story on her blog. I think Maytag deserved exactly what they got!!
I would love to have a million followers to let them know about the time I canceled a phone with Sprint and had to call them for FIVE months to get them to stop sending me a bill. Or the time that Babys R Us lost my sister in laws gift card in the mail and when it finally arrived three weeks late...IT WAS BLANK...NO AMOUNT ON THE GIFT CARD and they charged me for it!! Ohhh I have so many more. These are just some of the horror stories that I've had...I would LOVE to be in Dooce's shoes.

[Julie @ The Mom Slant]

Even with pseudo-celebrity, you give up some basic rights. Fair or not, it's an unfortunate side effect.

[Meredith]

Very well said.

[Issa]

I fully agree. I think it was interesting to see how it all played out. I feel bad for everyone involved. I guess I see both sides.

Hmm, an Oscar? Nice. I used to think about what I'd do if I were famous. Now, I just pray that I win the lottery. Chances of that are even worse, seeing how I play maybe once a year.

[mamabird]

I don't have any followers but I often feel like it is important to remember that someone might be reading it. Thanks for introducing me to Linda's blog! It's looks like something I'll enjoy reading. (Anything to help me pretend I have people to relate to on a regular basis.)

[Aunt Becky]

We must choose our words carefully. They all have power.

[muskrat]

Luckily, when I tweet under the influence, my followers just advise me to hail a cab.

[Melissa Beth]

Yep. And unlike you, my Mother-in-law is a follower. And a public one at that.

[marymac]

EXCELLENT post! have sore neck from nodding head 'yes!!'

[The Big Blue Frog]

I think any writer who doesn't have a "faithful reader" — a person, real or not, whom they're writing for — will run into problems of foot-in-mouth. When I write, I try to imagine my audience, big or small, and what the repercussions of my words could be. Granted, that's easy when your audience is as small as mine, but I still try to count to ten (or ten-times-ten) before I write something that may come back to bite me in the ass.

[Keyona]

I agree. People may not be TMZ famous but when you have THAT many followers things are bound to get out of control. Thanks for the reminder! ;o)