Or was it just a coincidence?
I thought about posting something in realtime. To Yelp, to Tweet my disappointment. But then I wondered: is there any margin for error anymore? In realtime, must business be absolutely perfect, all of the time? Would the right people read my post? If management were monitoring the stream, my opinion might create an opportunity for improvement. But other customers might turn away, and the downward spiral of quality deterioration could continue.
In realtime, what's the right thing to do?
Steven: I applaud your restraint. I find one of the real negative side effects of the rise of social media + the fall of our economy is that frustrated consumers are blasting brands without thinking first (thinking about the implications).
ReplyDeleteMaybe - just maybe - both places had an off day. I just feel like we are not giving brands any benefit of the doubt.
And while I appreciate the new empowerment enabled by social media, I believe we (consumers) have an obligation to use it responsibly.
I think a vocal few are driving brands to do silly things, and there is a need for more balance in the brand-consumer relationship.
Sorry, a bit of a meandering comment. I wrote a related post recently, that you can check out at http://www.flaggedforfollowup.com