As part of an effort to promote a “road diet” on Chicago Drive SW, Grandville officials looked into creating a Facebook page.
But they found out the city already has a presence on the social networking website. Although unofficial, the site looks like what city officials had in mind.
“We can’t figure out who’s doing it,” said Matt Butts, assistant city manager. “I was going to reply (to the anonymous page administrator): ‘This looks great. Who are you? Can we work together?'”
While this quote from an mlive.com article describes a seemingly cute and innocuous situation, take a step back and imagine what could have happened if the page’s creator had a bone to pick with the city. Allowing others to control your organization’s identity is a major crisis management no-no. For a prime example of a seemingly official social media account causing trouble for an organization look no further than the impostor @BPGlobalPR Twitter feed. When the feed first started BP’s reputation dipped even lower than it already had as hundreds of bloggers and Twitter users posted furious responses to the sarcastic statements regarding the Gulf spill. The good news is that the vast majority of social media services will help restore control to the rightful owners, so get out there and own your identity.
The BCM Blogging Team
https://www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com/