Washington Post says Angry Customers Use Web to Shame Firms : Blogs, Videos Are Tools of Retribution

Did you know the web is a communication tool (the most amazing one next to face to face communication, the world has even seen) You’ll also note that customers are voicing their opinions, using tools like blogs, forums, images, social networking sites, podcasts, and video.

If you’ve been reading along, you’ll know that I’m watching this, learning the mediums and tools and develop plans for companies to respond.

Washington Post says Angry Customers Use Web to Shame Firms : Blogs, Videos Are Tools of Retribution

Interesting pieces out of that article:

“But as angry clients increasingly turn to the Internet to settle scores, companies, independent retailers and everyday wrongdoers are learning that consumers can have the last word — and often the last laugh. The Web has turned into a place where shame and humiliation are sometimes the strongest weapons in fighting scams and unfairness.”

“This has been a wake-up call for these companies,” she said. “The day where you send a little letter to the CEO is over. In the age of technology, you have to be even more careful of how you treat your customers because you don’t know where they’re going to go. Now everything’s out in the open.”

“As the Internet becomes more ad-supported, it’s questionable if consumers and users will have any real clout,” he said. “Will a Fortune 500 company hear the sound of one angry blogger in the digital forest?”

I’m actually in the middle of a debate with an Irate Software Engineer, over this new ‘movement’ is there a real new movement by amateurs –their voices can be heard now, and can be found globally, is this a change? We still have not drawn any formal conclusions, maybe you could weigh in and leave a comment.

Edit: Andy Beal chimes in –his company offers monitoring services of the blogosphere. I’ve seen the work his team has done –it’s thorough and they turn around requests fast. I’m not being paid to say this fyi.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 5th, 2006 at 9:06 am and is filed under Social Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.