Seeking out customer service on Twitter is a fairly popular practice — and sometimes a successful one. But doing it publicly raises questions about social media–encouraged entitlement.
Via: @Bourdain
Earlier this year, celebrity chef and TV personality Anthony Bourdain suffered a flight delay.
The details of the delay ended up being on the...unusual side (it was reported that a bathroom-related accident took place outside the airplane bathroom, leading American Airlines to switch the plane planned for use in Bourdain's flight), but the general inconveniences associated with his travel plans were not: A person had to wait longer than expected to get where he was trying to go. It was a hassle.
The difference between Anthony Bourdain and any other dissatisfied customer of American Airlines is that Anthony Bourdain has over 1.3 million Twitter followers. When he took to Twitter to publicly complain about the airline — giving his rant its own hashtag home — 1.3 million people were there to listen.
Noted calm and reasonable person Alec Baldwin, too, was famously bounced from an American Airlines flight, allegedly for becoming disruptive after a flight attendant asked him to turn off his phone in preparation for departure. He subsequently tweeted his version of the events to his then-600,000 followers, criticizing the crew (whom he called "retired Catholic school gym teachers") and ultimately vowing never to fly with American Airlines ever again.
And when actor Patrick Stewart had trouble setting up a new account with Time Warner Cable last fall, his audience of over 330,000 followers was there to commiserate — and in some cases, to share their own grievances in the form of tweets back at the actor and the company itself.
That celebrities, in particular, would grandstand about their customer service expectations and woes is not, in itself, surprising. Nor is it the case that giant corporations deserve special protections, especially in times of poor performance. What is notable (and, in terms of online etiquette, troubling) is the spillover effect these celebrity tirades are having on the common Twitter user and, in turn, our Twitter-adjusted expectations for customer service.
Increasingly, Twitter users aren't just looking for actual customer service on the site — they're using their accounts to broadcast their complaints.
The practice has even gained traction with social media "gurus," who write articles providing tips on how the average Twitter user can more effectively address customer service. Many of these tips are merely instructive, suggesting that users who want assistance tweet directly at the company, as opposed, I guess, to subtweeting them. But others are more combative, and maybe just a little alarmist: "You also have the option to tag other account in the tweet, in order to raise the profile of the complaint," writes social media consultant Lauren Dugan. "Think about who might be interested in this story — prominent journalists, consumer advocacy groups, local politicians."
Surely in almost every case the answer is, emphatically, "none of the above," but what's more concerning is the sentiment behind the suggestion: the assumption that each and every customer service complaint is Twitter-worthy and deserving of public attention. They're not.