BizFlyin

That statement pretty much says it all, doesn't it! That's what social media is. If I @ba and tell them they suck because of xyz, and 10,000 people all chime in and say "right on!" BA might want to think about it.

If I do so and 10,000 people all chime in that I'm nuts, BA can probably happily ignore that issue.

Isn't that what happens on this board? Someone posted that the CCR was not up to expectations, a bunch of people agreed, and our own BA Rep here saw it and took action and responded.

I'm not saying social media should replace the phone and email for everything - life is not so easy / black and white - but it does have a lot of powerful uses, the above is only one example of many.

Globaliser

Ah yes, mob rule by mass blackmail.

I hope that BA wouldn't "think about it" just because 10,000 people chime in; rather, BA should think about it if there's merit in the complaint. 10,000 tweets do not equal merit.

HIDDY

Well my first BA Tweet experience has been disappointing. I've heard sod all back from BA and shall revert to email instead where I shall at least know my inquiry has been received.

I fear my Tweet has been lost somewhere in amongst the mass of meaningless tittle tattle that Twitter seems to thrive on.

BizFlyin

Where was the blackmail in that? I didn't see it. You don't see the difference between 1 person claiming the CCR is dirty and 10,000? If not, there's not much more to talk about. Also, if you think companies don't make choices based upon the noise level in the field... then I suspect you work for the government

henkybaby

I fear that BA simply has not implemented social that well. Hence this thread. KLM would have replied PDQ.

To Globaliser I can only say that 'blackmail' requires collaborative intent in this context. You give social too much credit. Unless you consider people who agree on a question in a BA questionnaire to be blackmailing BA as well... How do you find out what your customers think about whatever it is you're selling/delivering?

Globaliser

So what about all those instances when a company has made a decision which is undoubtedly correct and within policy, but merely unpopular, and has had to reverse it after a storm of criticism on Twitter? How is that not blackmail and a response to it?Actually, I do (to take this very specific instance): the former is plausible, the latter is not. But if companies have to act on the latter, that is not good.Again, this does not make it right, nor would I wish to encourage things which skew the behaviour of companies away from doing what's useful and right, and towards what is merely popular at that particular moment in time.

HIDDY

Just as I thought.......they didn't want to divert too many resources to it. ^

They should do the social media stuff on ba.com....Twitter is not the place for it.

FlyerTalker688786

no you have to answer each individual question. You are all for it do you did not see the negative side of social media to a company.

henkybaby

I think that social done badly can really hurt a company. That was equally true of websites and email etc. I can't understand the resistance against a new way of communicating on this (relatively new) communication platform.

To Hiddy I can only say that simply repeating the same erroneous statement does not make it true. Although this does seem to be the preferred approach of many management consultants.

HIDDY

That's a classic case of the pot calling the kettle black.

henkybaby

I at least try to substantiate my claims. I don't think I simply just repeat them.

HIDDY

The seller has to....the buyer doesn't.

BizFlyin

Ultimately your refusal to "buy" will only be to your disadvantage, it really has no impact on myself or others. We are doing a community service by trying to convince you.

I don't know where you're from... but in most of the capitalist-oriented world, this is how business is done. We don't refer to it as blackmail (though Stalin might have) we refer to it as making our customers happy. You may think it's wrong, but if you were a shareholder who cared about your share price... you'd probably want to keep your customers happy. Odd term to use, blackmail, since they are demanding no money... most of the time, the worst case scenario is a threat not to fly with them.

If that's your definition of blackmail, then yes, I blackmailed El Al, and when they didn't give in, I switched to BA.

henkybaby

I am not selling anything... I am trying to have an exchange of ideas.

T8191

I've always seen it that way. ^

The fact that I don't agree doesn't make the discussion irrelevant.