The Facebook Intifada

The article I came across was entitled The Facebook Intifada . Basically, the article spoke about how a Jerusalem man was shot, stabbed, and killed and how it spread all over Facebook and Twitter. The article was written from the son's perspective, however. As the boy sulked and thought about his fathers death, he realized a couple things. The following quote is directly from the article: "Watching the well-wishers congregating in the intensive care unit, however, I realized that the world leaders who were having the most impact on the situation in the Middle East right now weren’t Mr. Ban or Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, Jack Dorsey of Twitter and other young entrepreneurs who shape the social media platforms most of us use every day." This is an example of how Facebook can have direct consequences. These terrorists are using the social platform to promote their violence in Palestinian society. This is completely unacceptable and not a good way of getting peoples' attention via social media. Hence, this is one downfall of social media. The terrorist group used Facebook to promote something that is obviously negative. 

This week's post will be about Social Media Marketing Gone Bad. The following 5 marketing campaigns are examples of exactly not to do when it comes time to market for your business!

1. Coles- This super market chain tried to engage tweeters by tweeting, "in my house, it's a crime not to buy." This then lead to various negative comments referring to buying locally, and not at the chain!

2. McDonald's- McDonald's inspire customers to share their experiences under the hashtag #McDStories. Unfortunately, many customers did not have flattering things to say about the restaurant.

3. Coca- Cola- Although this certainly wasn’t the intention, Coca-Cola caused a number of Australian Facebook users to throw obscenities towards one another in response to a post by Coke that encouraged users to add a word to the comment of the person above them to write a happy story. This obviously did not go over well and Coca-Cola had to stop the campaign due to an online outbreak with unhappy users of the product. 

4. Dr. Pepper- The company ran a campaign that allowed users to opt in and and allow the brand to take over their status updates. Things end bad when a 14 year old girl's status was taken over by an inappropriate comment. 

5. QUANTAS- The company was offering a first class luxury flight experience to the person who could explain what a luxury flight experience would mean to them. As you can imagine, it got out of hand and the company thanked all the participants. This is why you must be careful when giving power to the audience.