It’s been described as an ego-stroker for those who want to broadcast the minutiae of their lives in 140 characters or less. It’s a virtual popularity contest to see who can rack up the most followers. And it’s yet another way to procrastinate on the Web.
But after signing up for my own Twitter account earlier this year (www.twitter.com/michellehiggins) — and being guilty of all of the above — I can now attest to at least one practical use for travelers: complaining.
As hotels, airlines and other travel companies line up on Twitter to promote their brands, customers who voice their grievances in the form of tweets are getting surprisingly fast responses for everything from bad airplane seats to poor room service.
Take Tony Wagner, 34, a new-media director for an academic group in Washington. When he found out he wasn’t seated next to his wife and 2-year-old daughter on a JetBlue flight to San Francisco over the Memorial Day weekend, he first called up customer service. But the agent told him to take it up at the gate. So Mr. Wagner indirectly sent JetBlue a message, by posting a plea for help on his Twitter account: “@jetblue Advice to get both parents and 2 yr old seated next to each other on flight later today? Right now only one parent. Full flight.”
Exactly 19 minutes later, JetBlue tweeted back, suggesting they correspond privately, using Twitter’s “direct message” feature: “@tonywagner Please follow us so we may DM!” After a brief exchange, JetBlue flagged his tickets as a priority concern.
Programs: AS MVP (withering away due to insane fares), UA, AA, AGR, NPS passport, Costco Exec
Posts: 5,226
It helps if you have followers. Adam Savage of Mythbusters fame (@donttrythis on Twitter) successfully got AT&T to reverse $11,000 in data roaming charges on a brief trip to Canada after he uttered a simple, non-inflammatory tweet, seen by his 50,000+ followers, about the bill.
Me? My 65 (or whatever) followers (most of whom are, as far as I can tell, just spammers who are following me in order to get me to follow them) puts me well down towards the bottom of the Twitter rankings (though it's fun to see how high I can climb the social ladder on sites like Twitter Grader). Of course, a couple strategic people at a certain Seattle-based airline do follow me, but my only complaint about their carrier is the exhorbitant prices, which they really can't do anything about (I was once introduced to a senior director at AS and described as "whiny"--glad to know I'm at least known among upper circles ).
I'm not terribly creative when it comes to tweets--I don't have deep insights on the universe or anything, so people who follow me mostly follow me because they either know me or because they're spammers looking for a quick follow (which they won't find). I find Twitter more interesting as a consumer rather than a producer: I follow many very prolific people who sort of serve as a human news-gathering service and filter through which I can stay abreast of issues that interest me without the extraneous noise of stuff I could not care less about (for me, it's largely taken the place of reading the newspaper or news magazines) while also letting me see thoughts and perspectives from people whose views I respect and/or appreciate. (Now that there are a few people of notable influence in a couple of the circles I observe who are following me, I've tried to tighten up my own tweets, reducing the clutter of random observations, and rather trying to make every tweet count, but I'm still finding my voice.)
I think Twitter's prompt question of "What are you doing?" is outdated and inappropriate. It should be, rather, "What are you thinking?", as Twitter is better suited as a place to provoke thought and record observations of one's surroundings than for Facebook-like or MySpace-like useless prattle on subjects you care nothing about.
Sounds like Twitter might actually be good for something.
Time for me to join?
Meh. There are some specific uses that almost make sense - and this is not the first time that jetBlue has received good press from handling customer service via Twitter - but for the most part I don't buy it. Calling back, using the "speak up" button on the website or just dealing with it at the airport all would have worked for this guy. At the same time, tewwting @jetblue to tell them that the TrueBlue program sucks won't actually get you anywhere. I don't see the value, but that's just me.
Meh. There are some specific uses that almost make sense - and this is not the first time that jetBlue has received good press from handling customer service via Twitter - but for the most part I don't buy it. Calling back, using the "speak up" button on the website or just dealing with it at the airport all would have worked for this guy. At the same time, tewwting @jetblue to tell them that the TrueBlue program sucks won't actually get you anywhere. I don't see the value, but that's just me.
you miss the point, dealing with things privately vs. dealing with your greviance in the public realm get very different responses. I have seen it work quickly first hand, twitter is a blog for everyone in real time, these companies are hiring experts and spending big money learning how to use twitter for good as well as manage the bad.
If twitter can level the playing field against an oppressive government in Iran I am sure not suprised that it will get you a better seat on jetblue
).
