Crisis for Chrysler on Social Media

Due to a recent social media blunder, Chrysler has dropped New Media Strategies(NMS) as their designated social media company. Chrysler’s Twitter page “has been compromised,” stated a Chrysler rep. It was reported that an employee of NMS posted a tweet to what he thought was his personal Twitter account…while it was actually posted to the Chrysler Twitter page.

You might think that one wrong tweet wouldn’t be that big of a deal – until you see it. The tweet posted Wednesday read: “I find it ironic that Detroit is known as the (hash)motorcity and yet no one here knows how to (expletive) drive.” Needless to say, Chrysler has removed the post and posted their own response to the situation on their blog.

NMS has announced that the employee was fired from the company due to the incident. Whether it was an accident or not, this story should make you ask yourself, “Does my company have a social media policy in place?” If not, you might be susceptible to the same disaster. The purpose of the policy is to designate guidelines and rules for companies and their employees to follow while taking part in social media. It answers questions such as “Who is allowed to speak on behalf of the company?” Also, “How do we handle a social media crisis?” For legal purposes, having a social media policy in place is key. That way, if an employee from your company made the same mistake, he or she would have signed the policy and would be fully responsible for the consequences.

How do you think Chrysler handled the crisis?

Published on: March 11, 2011