We advise clients to ALWAYS “register an account on Twitter for both the brand and company well in advance of needing it for crisis communications.” You don’t even have to use it, just be prepared. It’s like putting batteries in the smoke detector: it’s no fun climbing the ladder to do it, but you’ll be grateful at 3AM when it alerts you.
So it’s interesting to note that Twitter is experimenting with “Verified Accounts” which promise the imprint of authenticity on a user’s Tweets. Does this really matter? Consider:
- Exxon – brand jacked by “Janet” who tweets as the putative spokeswoman for Exxon-Mobil “@1WineDude, did you know that the Valdez spill wasn’t even one of the top 10 worst spills in history? Like the Nowruz Oil Field spill in ‘80″. (Read the full story on Jeremiah Owyang’s blog)
- Baseball’s Tony La Russa - manager of the St. Louis Cardinals Major League Baseball franchise is suing Twitter claiming that someone is pretending to be him on the site. (Full story on ESPN)
- Musician Kanye West – also “mad as hell” and in typical hip hop style rants and raves about the impostor. (Link to TechCrunch article. Heads up foul language ahead)
Claim Your Twitter ID Now
If you work in health care communications claim your Twitter ID while you can. Get your agency to do it. Get your VP of Public Relations to do it. But don’t let anyone spread disinformation about your drug, product, device or company. Here are the simple steps:
- Navigate to the Twitter signup page
- Enter your Full Name, and your Username (aka “Twitter ID”)
- Pick a password
- Enter your email address
- Create your account
Hey Bausch & Lomb – Want Your ID?
Lest you think this is a joke, take a look at this screen grab. Bausch & Lomb’s “Besivance” approved for the treatment of bacterial conjunctivitis was one click away from being registered by me. Did I click that “Create My Account” button? No. It’s against the Twitter “Terms of Service.” But are you willing to risk millions of dollars in R&D, clinical trials, not to mention the years of effort to bring the product to market only to have some crazy hacker hijack your brand? Let’s hope not. Time to get proactive.
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