Sir, I disagree that businesses should avoid Twitter entirely (Business Life, Nov 9). It is true that many fail to act quickly enough, succinctly enough or openly enough to use a tool with Twitter’s immediacy. But individuals are inherently more interesting and can be your company’s best advocates, so it is shortsighted to stop them using Twitter altogether out of fear of them eventually leaving. Would you prevent company spokespeople from talking to journalists in case they leave the company at some point in the future?
Most companies have a policy on how to deal with the media, and should now be creating a social media policy. This should help all users to understand what the business aims to achieve, how to exercise good judgment and ensure productivity is not affected. Social media or new media is really just media. Plain and simple.
Twitter ultimately opens another channel for businesses to communicate with customers and, rather than be avoided entirely, should be used to listen to them and resolve problems.
Paul Stallard
Berkeley PR