What not to do in social media

Trevor Cook reported one shameful PR disaster: a PR agency allegedly left dubious comments and commercial messages disguised as blog posts in the name of their client (National Australia Bank), under false pretenses.

Wow, unbelievable! They obviously don’t get social media at all… Unfortunately, these actions demoralize the honest reputation of business to consumer interactions; it deepens the friction between marketers and consumers and basically gives social media marketing a bad name.

Social media is grounded on the transparency and authenticity of the real people involved.  The diverse connections people make through social media opens the door for businesses and consumers to talk, correspond as users or partners do, most often reaching mutual benefits, because valuable feedback brings better services and more…

As my previous post appraised a positive social media practice, today’s example is a lousy negative one. So on a Do’s and Don’t list, this is a definite Don’t do in social media!