Apologising Via Twitter is Like Proposing Marriage by Email

Or “Beware Social Media, It Can Bite You Where (and When) You Least Expect.”

By now Southwest Airlines must be wondering if social media is still hip and trendy, having made a bit of a social media faux-pas. I think they should have handled The Kevin Smith Affair a bit differently.

Silent Bob Aims His Twitter Feed at South West Airlines Guess Who’s Winning

I’m not about to get into the whys and wherefores of the “throwing off plane because Kevin was a Fat Person.” If they have a policy, they have a policy. The thing is if Mr Smith hadn’t turned out to be such a famous persona with thousands (or is it millions?) of Twitter followers who actually listened to what he had to say Southwest Airlines wouldn’t have had the current social media fire to fight because there would have been no story. It wouldn’t have mattered to them.

If you are a brand and a customer is upset and you’re really sorry (I mean really, really sorry, not canned PR sorry – and not via a blog post that comes across as insincere) apologise directly to your customer and give them something to make them feel you actually mean what you say. Sending an apology via Twitter after the fact (presumably Southwest Airlines discovered Kevin Smith had over a million followers when they decided to apologise via Twitter) doesn’t wash especially when it’s after the fact.

Southwest Airlines blog response to Not So Silent Bob

The episode brings up some interesting considerations for companies.

Southwest Airlines has been held up as being one of the poster companies for using social media. They are mentioned in most case studies to prove that “social media works for companies.” And not that it doesn’t work, it’s just that it can backfire royally if companies fail to remember it isn’t a get out of jail free card for basic customer care and you can’t use it effectively for CMA (Cover My Ass-ing) because people know the difference.

The fact is, as a company or a brand, any one of your customers can get on Twitter and tell the world about their experience. Companies shouldn’t need that particular stick to coax them into better customer services, but they’d do well to keep it in mind.

While you could understand using Twitter, Southwest Airline’s blog post actually doesn’t help. Reading between the lines it sounds insincere as it places the blame squarely with the customer. If you are going to use Social Media at all then people have to feel you are being sincere about blogged “apologies.”

“We sent you an apology via Twitter,” is just not the way a company should do it. Neither is “echoing the original tweet.” Too impersonal. Assuming someone with a million followers is going to see it anyway. And no matter how popular social media may be, it isn’t a replacement for proper handling of unhappy customer situations. No brownie points for Southwest Airlines.

This only ever came to light because Kevin Smith happens to be a celebrity with considerable Twitter clout. What’s more important is how they would treat a non-celebrity. Would other “large” customers (sans thousands of Twitter followers) feel humiliated when removed from the plane? Would they get the social media apology from Southwest Airlines? Would they get any apology? Somehow I doubt it.