Will The Real Steve Jobs Please Stand Up?

Social media has changed the game of public relations. It has given everyone a voice; companies and their CEOs, loyal supporters, critics, activists and the like.  It has created two-way symmetrical communication between organizations and their publics which allows messages to be sent and received in a matter of seconds.  While companies and organizations welcome the positive feedback from their constituents, will the adverse blogs, Facebook pages, YouTube videos, and Twitter accounts damage the organization's image?

  
Apple is one of the most talked about companies in the industry.  There are a multitude of blogs, fan pages, news articles and twitter accounts dedicated to Apple.  I was originally going to discuss the content of these sites and articles and how they are providing free public relations and advertising to the brand.  So as a good, little, grad student, I did my research and became fans of these sites on Facebook and began following the fans on Twitter.  I also decided that I would follow Apple CEO, Steve Jobs, to review the messages he was sending to his fans. What I discovered blew my mind.  "The BlackBerry tablet is going to fail. Mark my words."  "We've got better moves in our playbook, BlackBerry" I was floored that Jobs would speak about his competitors in such a demeaning way.   I was even more appalled that Jobs spoke condescendingly to his 241,612 Twitter followers: "Dear Mac fans, please don't ask for a photo with me. It cheapens my brand value." 

This made me rethink about my feelings towards the brand and my next Apple purchase and then my instincts kicked in.  How can I be sure that this is really Steve Jobs' Twitter account? Social networking sites do not verify your identity or care who you are or what you say. It turns out that CeoSteveJobs on Twitter is a parody account. I was duped and for a brief moment I was ready to boycott Apple products.

As it turns out, I was not the only one.  On June 27, 2010, The Daily Mail, a UK newspaper, picked up a story from this very Twitter account and relayed the false message that the iPhone 4 was being recalled. The story was immediately retracted once the paper was notified that the information was untrue but it just proves that you cannot believe everything you read.

Did this effect Apple's bottom line or fan base? No, Apple’s ingenious products speak for themselves.  Negative blogs and fake Twitter accounts cannot change the fact that Apple products are well made, cutting edge, and superior to their competition.