Image - Exonous.typepad.com

How much privacy do you expect when joining the social conversation? For me, I went into it knowing that I was giving away some privacy and exposing myself to the world. In working an account for a corporation, I see the openness of these conversations as a way to interact with customers on a 1:1 level and increase brand loyalty. It is also soft-sell marketing that can be ignored by the person they tweeted – a fully optional medium.

I thought that this was common practice that was subscribed to by the community. If you want 100 percent privacy, you can adjust your settings to reflect this or stick to AIM and email.

The reason I am kind of heated about this is because over the past week or so, I’ve gotten a few nasty messages on the corporate account similar to the following:

• Excuse me, butt out of our conversation
• Stalker
• Get the F out of my conversation
• Eavesdrop much?

Please keep in mind that these folks were asking questions about my company, had an issue or were looking for a discount code. So it was just a matter of answering their query. I would categorize it as a good use of the tools and being an active member of the community.

To these people it was obtrusive, but what good is a pulpit in an open forum if you are not open to get an answer? I guess they want to have their cake and eat it too. It’s cool for some customers to complain or ask rhetorical questions but they get offended if they get the answer or help.

Am I just overreacting or is this more of an issue of people getting into a space without understanding the community rules? What do you think?

Also how private do you think it should be?

Image - Exonous.typepad.com

How much privacy do you expect when joining the social conversation? For me, I went into it knowing that I was giving away some privacy and exposing myself to the world. In working an account for a corporation, I see the openness of these conversations as a way to interact with customers on a 1:1 level and increase brand loyalty. It is also soft-sell marketing that can be ignored by the person they tweeted – a fully optional medium.

I thought that this was common practice that was subscribed to by the community. If you want 100 percent privacy, you can adjust your settings to reflect this or stick to AIM and email.

The reason I am kind of heated about this is because over the past week or so, I’ve gotten a few nasty messages on the corporate account similar to the following:

• Excuse me, butt out of our conversation
• Stalker
• Get the F out of my conversation
• Eavesdrop much?

Please keep in mind that these folks were asking questions about my company, had an issue or were looking for a discount code. So it was just a matter of answering their query. I would categorize it as a good use of the tools and being an active member of the community.

To these people it was obtrusive, but what good is a pulpit in an open forum if you are not open to get an answer? I guess they want to have their cake and eat it too. It’s cool for some customers to complain or ask rhetorical questions but they get offended if they get the answer or help.

Am I just overreacting or is this more of an issue of people getting into a space without understanding the community rules? What do you think?

Also how private do you think it should be?

Image - Exonous.typepad.com

How much privacy do you expect when joining the social conversation? For me, I went into it knowing that I was giving away some privacy and exposing myself to the world. In working an account for a corporation, I see the openness of these conversations as a way to interact with customers on a 1:1 level and increase brand loyalty. It is also soft-sell marketing that can be ignored by the person they tweeted – a fully optional medium.

I thought that this was common practice that was subscribed to by the community. If you want 100 percent privacy, you can adjust your settings to reflect this or stick to AIM and email.

The reason I am kind of heated about this is because over the past week or so, I’ve gotten a few nasty messages on the corporate account similar to the following:

• Excuse me, butt out of our conversation
• Stalker
• Get the F out of my conversation
• Eavesdrop much?

Please keep in mind that these folks were asking questions about my company, had an issue or were looking for a discount code. So it was just a matter of answering their query. I would categorize it as a good use of the tools and being an active member of the community.

To these people it was obtrusive, but what good is a pulpit in an open forum if you are not open to get an answer? I guess they want to have their cake and eat it too. It’s cool for some customers to complain or ask rhetorical questions but they get offended if they get the answer or help.

Am I just overreacting or is this more of an issue of people getting into a space without understanding the community rules? What do you think?

Also how private do you think it should be?

Image - Exonous.typepad.com

How much privacy do you expect when joining the social conversation? For me, I went into it knowing that I was giving away some privacy and exposing myself to the world. In working an account for a corporation, I see the openness of these conversations as a way to interact with customers on a 1:1 level and increase brand loyalty. It is also soft-sell marketing that can be ignored by the person they tweeted – a fully optional medium.

I thought that this was common practice that was subscribed to by the community. If you want 100 percent privacy, you can adjust your settings to reflect this or stick to AIM and email.

The reason I am kind of heated about this is because over the past week or so, I’ve gotten a few nasty messages on the corporate account similar to the following:

• Excuse me, butt out of our conversation
• Stalker
• Get the F out of my conversation
• Eavesdrop much?

Please keep in mind that these folks were asking questions about my company, had an issue or were looking for a discount code. So it was just a matter of answering their query. I would categorize it as a good use of the tools and being an active member of the community.

To these people it was obtrusive, but what good is a pulpit in an open forum if you are not open to get an answer? I guess they want to have their cake and eat it too. It’s cool for some customers to complain or ask rhetorical questions but they get offended if they get the answer or help.

Am I just overreacting or is this more of an issue of people getting into a space without understanding the community rules? What do you think?

Also how private do you think it should be?