Social Media – PR Lessons

There are some great PR lessons to learn from the social media faux pas, flame outs and funny/sad antics in the virtual universe. Everything from bad pitches, poor blogger relations, careless crisis management and even worse.

Of course, we all know better, right? In the interests of learning and social media best practices, we share some of the social media mistakes of others so you have no excuses if it happens to you. This page will no doubt be updated frequently.

Other social media and PR resources you may find useful: Best Social Media Bloggers for PR, Best Social Media Tools for PR, Blogging & PR, Facebook for PR, LinkedIn for PR,  Online Crisis Management, Social Media Monitoring, Social Media Tips & Strategies, Social Media Releases (SMRs) and Twitter & PR. The PR Coach’s own blog  This Just In… will also keep you current twice a week.

We guess you’ll want to learn more about Crisis Communications Planning & Management resources in the PR Library too. Sites with a W are PR Coach “winners.”

5 Examples of Social Media Blunders and What to Learn From Them
Learn from Mashable’s look at social media blunders from Facebook, Sony BMG, Motrin and Astrospace.

5 PR Pitches: The Good and Bad
Tech journalist Marshall Kirkpatrick recalls several good and bad PR pitches and finishes with six solid  blogger relations tips.

10 Ways to Get Fired for Building Your Personal Brand
Dan Schawbel reminds us that the web is a very public place. Remember that next time you rant, flame or get too personal online.

A Monster’s Inc Move at Domino’s
An in-depth look at Domino’s employee crisis, the company’s response and lessons learned by Valeria Maltoni.   W

American Airlines Fires Employee for Good Customer Service
The Guardian reports on American Airlines’ strange response to an employee and the web whirlwind that followed.

Astroturfing Online Reviews: 3 Reasons It’s a Bad Idea
Dave Fleet says astroturfing is risky to clients and agencies, not to mention unethical.

Blog Brushfire
When an association received negative blog comments, its response was a lesson in social media.

Cheating the App Store: PR Firm Has Interns Post Positive Reviews for Clients
Bad PR practice, lacking transparency, dishonest business, negative publicity for its clients, bad example for interns, unethical. What else can you say about this agency?

Corporate Dumb and Dumberer
David Henderson highlights poor response by CTS, maker of the faulty accelerator pedals in the massive Toyota recall.   W

Dominos Responds to Brand Crisis Through Social Media
Useful overview of Dominos’ response to its YouTube crisis, what it did well and could have done better.   W

Doubling the Dilemma: National Pork Producers Council
Rich Becker considers the challenge of de-linking swine flu from pork in the marketplace and whether the NPPC may have created its own issue.   W

Flying Too Close to the Flame – Bloggers Torch PR Pitchers
No excuse for poor PR pitching practices to bloggers. Here’s how to do it right.

Hertz Rent a Car Sucks and Has Horrible Employees and Customer Service
A CNN iReport captures terrible Hertz customer service and the video goes viral. See for yourself. Ouch.   W

How Not to be a Key Online Influencer
A social media screw up tale from David Henderson involving FedEx and Ketchum. Good lessons learned.

How NOT to Respond to Negative Publicity on a Blog
David Risley shares a telling tale of terrible blogger relations, illustrating again how poor practices live online for a long, long time.   W

How Not to Use Twitter for Work
Ouch! This example will serve as a reminder of the negative impact of bad Twitter, or any social media, practices.   W

How Should Your Company Handle Negative Blog Comments?
Learn from Hardwood Artisans’ competent handling of negative blog comments.

How to Clear Bad Press From Search Engines, Clear Negative Content, Remove Bad News
OPW Lab provides ten tips that will help reduce negative or bad press online though it takes time and hard work.

How to Recover From a Social Media Disaster
What to do when things go wrong? Good case study from Samboy Chips.

How Twitter Broke and Covered the Hudson Plane Crash Tonight, From Eyewitnesses
The immediacy of Twitter helped coverage of the plane crash in the Hudson and rescue of passengers notes Drew B on the day of the event.

Hulking Astroturf: Reverb Communications
Rich Becker shows how astroturf PR agency Reverb’s clumsy comeback made its practices come even more under fire.   W

Ignore the Twittersphere? Major Brands Learn That They’d Better Respond — and Quick
Lots of social media lessons to be learned from Amazon, Dominos and CNN.

Interesting Case Study on Negative Blog Comments
Madie Grant examines how PRSA fell victim to its own sloppy social media handling of negative blog comments.   W

Learning From the Mistakes of KMart, Motrin and FedEx
Three social media mistakes and many lessons learned.

Let’s Go to the Videotape: Blogger’s Complaint Exposed as Hyperbole
When a blogger wrongly attacks the TSA, it responds on its blog with the facts and video to correct the record. Textbook response says Dave Jones.

NBC: A Corporate PR Disaster
The Bad Pitch Blog looks at NBC’s poor job handling of the Tonight Show.

Negative Blog Spurs Positive Outcome
Quick response by Bemis Manufacturing turns negative post into lemonade.

Negative PR in Advertising Travels Fast Online
A look at the Dr Pepper/Guns and Roses dust-up and the impact of online bad news on other brands as well.

Nike, Just Do It: When a Local Story Runs Away on the Web and Leads to Change
Brian Solis explores Nike’s mishandling of a local story leading to a better PR outcome after a social media firestorm.

Northwest Airlines: A Communications Nightmare
Overshooting the runway by 150 miles? David Henderson notes the initial response from Northwest has been to hide when it could have been managed better.

Pitching in Public
Todd Defren asks questions about pitching media publicly by Facebook or other social media.

Poisoning PR: Peanut Corporation of America
PCA proved negligent in business and in its communications. Rich Becker looks at other companies impacted and their responses.   W

PRDisasters.com
Gerry McCusker blogs about PR disasters, PR spin,  and PR gone wrong. Always interesting and no shortage of bad examples.

Ruffling Feathers: Jeremiah Owyang
Rich Becker highlights media analyst Owyang’s use of Twitter to communicate about another company’s potential problems. Lots of crisis and social media lessons.   W

Silencing Media Doesn’t Work Anymore in a Citizen Journalism World
Nike’s handling of the Lebron James incident was clumsy and just plain bad PR.

Social Media and the Saga of the Lug Nuts
A telling tale of poor service, slow response and social media impact by Catharine Taylor.

Social Media Case Study – Dairy Queen
Dairy Queen get social media writes Mike Fruchter. From blogging and podcasting to Facebook, Twitter and mobile, DQ is getting the best from its social media strategies.   W

Social Media Marketing With Twitter: The EA Comic-Con
A sophomoric marketing campaign and poor response by Electronic Arts lead to a negative Twitter storm.

Social Media Mistakes
Jennifer Horowitz shares six critical social media mistakes you can avoid.

Social Media Snafu – Another Cautionary Tale
Skylight Opera firing results in intrigue, toil and trouble played out on the social media stage.

Sorry PR People You’re Blocked
Wired’s Chris Anderson blows his top at PR spammers, publishing more than 300 offender emails and it’s deserved.   W

Starbucks Social Media Monitoring & Community Help It Survive Brand Attack
Quick response and savvy community building help Starbucks weather a brand attack.

Sued for a Tweet: How Not to Deal With Complaints on Twitter
Chicago firm learns the cost of suing a Twitter complainant may cost more in bad publicity.   W

The Ketchum-Fedex Twitter Saga Continues
Even  more on the Twit’s Twitter leading to many Twitters.

The New Rules for Breaking News, Robert Scoble Should Be in PR
Brian Solis highlights the role of bloggers as a new powerful element to add to public relations and media relations campaigns.   W

The Take-Away
David Henderson’s final take on the Ketchum-Fedex Twitter saga.

TwitPic of Napping Transit Worker Sparks Media Controversy
New Twitter picture sharing tool catches sleeping transit worker and all sides pile on in the media.   W

Twitter Campaigns: A Cautionary Tale for Marketers
Moonfruit’s successful campaign caused Twitter to dampen response to Twitter’s discredit.

United Airlines Breaks Guitars
A tale of sad customer service by United Airlines and the resulting social media tsunami.

United Airlines “Thundercloud” of Bad PR
Gretchen Hyman says United Airlines losses due to the “breaks guitars” online crisis are said to be as high as $180 million.

Why Spam PR Pitches Won’t Go Away
More spray and pray pitching gets Dave Fleet’s ire again.

Photo credit: Maureen Flynn-Burhoe