Is Someone Using Your Organization's Initials/Name in Social Media?

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Comment by Andrew Krzmarzick on February 16, 2012 at 9:11am

Hey Glen - In situations where there's confusion between your name and theirs that would cause problems in the case of an emergency or the need for expedient communication, I'd say it's worth making sure that citizens are getting accurate information without haze or hesitation. In short, I'd open up a conversation with them and explore solutions, which could include references to you on their websites and other compromises short of "cease and desist."

Comment by Mary Yang on February 15, 2012 at 12:11pm

Apologies - for some reason, my full comment won't post!

I saw this article and thought of your post: http://on.msnbc.com/wcwHE9

Essentially, APStylebook and other writing guide manuals have fake parody accounts on Twitter. It's a pretty funny little interaction that caused enough buzz that MSNBC picked it up.

I agree with the other comments below, especially Campbell David's about refusing to engage if you know you're just dealing with a ranter in the social media sphere. But but I also think that, if the opportunity allows for it, you shouldn't be afraid to be lighthearted in your approach to dealing with the local rapper. It could create a little buzz that puts your organization in the spotlight.

Comment by Campbell David on February 13, 2012 at 9:31am

Our organization got hijacked in a disagreeable way last year: a disgruntled member of the public created a facebook page with a similar acronym and acquired over a hundred confused "friends" who mistakenly signed on there. I'm an administrator for our account - my fellow administrators and I decided merely to monitor what was going on there. I received all sorts of disagreeable email from her, (calling my coworkers fat and lazy) but they became less frequent and eventually stopped. When it became plain that the site was merely for ranting, the followers dropped off and eventually the account was taken down.

While I was monitoring the bogus facebook account, another government agency drew the creator's ire so she began attacking the Department of Transportation in similar fashion.

There will always be cranks out there and I think our failure to engage let the wind out of her sails.

Comment by David Dejewski on February 13, 2012 at 7:51am

For consideration: with the advent of social media, conversations go on with or without us. People will talk whether we're listening or not. Ask a social media expert and they're likely to mention that it's better to put together a strategy for engaging, to take the high road and be transparent, than it is to ignore this and let someone else manage your brand.

Comment by GovLoop on February 13, 2012 at 6:37am

I know USDA has had that problem as well as there is a rapper named Young Jeezy who calls his crew usda so often there stream was full of some jeezy fans