Do you fire someone for a bad tweet?

December 9, 2011 9:57 am 2 comments

Earlier this year on March 9th, 2011 a surprising tweet came out for the  @ChryslerAutos twitter account.  Using this as an example, I’m curious about your thoughts. See below:

Clearly a mental lapse, which was brought to Twitter by a since fired employee of New Media Strategies, the agency handling the Chrysler account. The Wall Street Journal reports that Chrysler also cut ties to New Media Strategies in March as a result of the above tweet.  

This is further evidence that in the social web, even though you can delete a tweet, it doesn’t disappear if it’s been retweeted.  Rather, it lives on forever in follow-up blogging by AdWeek in this case, and articles like the ones here and Chrysler’s own response here. 

Appropriate response?

Did Chrysler take the appropriate steps in your mind?  Should they not only have ensured that the employee of New Media Strategies was immediately fired but also end the business relationship with the agency themselves for a single tweet?

If this happened to you, what would you do?

  • Kovacics

    In this age of social media, I think those taking advantage of it have to be cognizant of their actions. Whatever you post online it is now pretty much public domain and accessible for the masses to see. Sure there are viewing restrictions that can be implemented, but nothing is 100% “safe”. I.e. the case here where deleting a tweet was thought to address the issue, but it was already retweeted.

    Companies and individuals are using social media to share thoughts, opinions, and information- be it personal or a company- its all brand identity. I believe Chrysler did the right thing in cutting ties to the agency. When your identity is on the line, do you really want it tarnished?

    • http://twitter.com/fusedlogic Walter Schwabe

      I agree, they moved to protect their brand and it was the right move.