UPDATE: A source at Twitter tells Consumerist that there are behind-the-scenes systems in place to try to prevent ads being served to users who have posted negative Tweets about a particular advertiser. Users can also report promoted Tweets that they feel are inappropriate or counter to their interests. [More]
Twitter Kills Off Ribbon’s In-Stream Payment System Hours After Its Launch
By 4.11.13
Yesterday morning the Interwebs were all abuzz about a new in-stream payment system from a company called Ribbon, which would allow Twitter users to buy stuff without ever leaving their Twitter feed. But mere hours after Ribbon debuted the feature, Twitter swiftly killed it off. [More]
Microsoft Apologizes For Loudmouthed Creative Director’s Tweets
By 4.5.13
Earlier this week, a Microsoft Studios creative director stepped into a huge, flaming virtual bag full of doo-doo when he decided to make his case for always-online gaming, and possibly gave away information about the next generation of Xbox in the process. Today, Microsoft has had to issue a “don’t listen to that guy” statement. [More]
Restaurant Uses Twitter To Shame People Who Blew Off Reservations
By 3.26.13
Allowing diners to reserve tables can be a risky proposition for restaurant-owners, as the business may have to turn away walk-in customers based solely on the reservation-holders’ say-so that they are going to show up. When the diners fail to materialize, it can mean lost business to the eatery, which is why one L.A. restaurant recently decided to start naming names of no-shows on Twitter. [More]
Wendy’s Tells Customers To Tweet At Wrong Username Two Weeks Too Early
By 3.20.13
Barry got a flyer for a cool new social media promotion at Wendy’s. It looks fun and simple enough: just take a picture of your chicken sandwich and tweet it with a specific hashtag. He writes that what should be a simple enough promo became needlessly complicated because of two mistakes on the part of Wendy’s: they handed flyers out two weeks before the actual start date of the promotion, and directed people to the wrong Twitter account. You know, minor details. [More]
Samsung Wants To Patch Up My Defective Phone So It Can Break Again
By 3.18.13
Alex has a Samsung Galaxy SII on AT&T, and his phone has one of the common defects of that model: it likes to randomly shut itself down for no reason. Instead of casting him into smartphone replacement purgatory, AT&T and Samsung are instead trying to divert him into repair purgatory. His phone will be totally fine after their repair, AT&T assured him. It wasn’t. He turned to Samsung and made his case to them. They were willing to repair his phone, but not replace it. [More]
Facebook Might Introduce Hashtags & Twitter Is Like, “Welcome To Five Years Ago”
By 3.15.13
If the rumors are true and Facebook starts using hashtags, Twitter might get a bit peeved. On one hand, it’s just another symbol sitting there on the keyboard, but on the other, it’s been pretty widely known as strictly Twitter territory. A new report says Facebook wants to get in on the hashtag action, which could elevate the already frosty relationship between the two social networks to ice cold. [More]
FTC Says Social Media Ads Have To Be Held To Same Rules As Traditional Ads
By 3.13.13
One of the important duties held by the Federal Trade Commission is making sure ads don’t mislead consumers. Yesterday the FTC set out clear rules for short-form ads on social media like Twitter and Facebook as well. Namely, they have to be held to the same basic requirement as other advertising — be upfront about what’s going on. [More]
Internet Unmasks One Of The People Behind Charmin’s Poo-Obsessed Twitter Feed
March 6, 2013
The official Charmin Twitter feed is notorious for its constant stream of poop-related musings, ranging in quality from sophomoric to brilliant (insofar as fecal humor can be brilliant). Now the Internet has revealed at least one of the people behind Procter & Gamble’s filthiest social media campaign. (via AnimalNewYork.com) [More]
Help Us Help You: One Company’s Social Media Rep Explains How To Get Complaints Resolved
By 3.5.13
A common refrain here at Consumerist that we try to promote is “kill’em with kindness.” Shouting, writing angry emails in all caps and generally freaking out at customer service representatives are all tactics guaranteed to make your quest for a positive resolution a lot harder. And as one company’s social media rep writes in to explain to Consumerist, often complaining customers aren’t doing anything to help her help them. [More]
Denny’s Wants To Be Like All The Cool Companies, Pretends To Get Hacked
By 2.20.13
With all of the prominent companies getting Twitter-hacked this week, it was only a matter of time before some plucky young firm decided to pretend to get hacked so they could look as prominent as Burger King or Cadillac and soak up all of the free publicity. It happened yesterday, and that plucky go-getter of a company is…Denny’s. [More]
Jeep Targeted By Twitter Hackers Claiming Cadillac Now Has The Keys To The Company
By 2.19.13
UPDATE: We reached out to Jeep for comment and received the following from a spokesman regarding the Twitter hack: “We’re aware of the issue and are working to resolve it as quickly as possible.” [More]
No, McDonald’s Did Not Buy Burger King Because “The Whopper Flopped”
By 2.19.13
You can’t believe everything you read on Twitter, even if it’s on the official account of a company like say, Burger King. Proving that anything on the Internet can be futzed with, someone took over Burger King’s Twitter account yesterday and announced that the chain had been sold to McDonald’s because “the Whopper flopped.” [More]
Twitter Feeds For 1-800 Flowers, FTD Are Apologizing More Than Boyfriends Who Screwed Up Valentine’s Day
By 2.15.13
We’ve shown you some Valentine’s Day disasters from one floral delivery service, and we’re sorting through the many photos sent in by angry customers of other companies. But if you want to see just how peeved customers are, look no further than the Twitter feeds for FTD and 1-800 Flowers. [More]
Now You Can Buy Stuff With A Tweet: Amex’s Twitter Sync Turns Hashtags Into Cashtags
By 2.12.13
Last year American Express launched its “Amex Sync” integration, where customers could link up their credit cards to Twitter and get discounts on certain items by way of special offers sent out on the social network. And now the two companies are turning hashtags into dollar signs with a joint venture that allows users to buy certain items simply by hashtagging tweets. [More]
My Web Host Bought Me A Domino’s Pizza Just Because I Asked
By 2.11.13
Glen is a web developer in Northern Ireland. He recently switched back to using a web-hosting company he’d left about a year before. And when the provider asked if it could help with anything else and Glen jokingly requested a pizza, he was in for a surprise. [More]
Vine’s New Age Restriction Notice Ignores The Fact That Liars Can Also Click “OK”
By 2.6.13 — Updated: 2.7.13
As we noted before, Twitter’s new Vine app has a little bit of a porn problem. As in, it’s all too easy to find six-second pornographic videos, despite the company’s best efforts to make that content hard to find. The service got in some hot water a few days after it launched, when a hardcore porn video popped up on users’ home feeds, and since then it’s been scrambling to assure the public it’s clean, honest. [More]
