We love Jimmy Fallon’s Mean Tweets bit. He is able to catch celebrities reading fairly nasty tweets about themselves. It is a commentary on how hateful people can be when anonymous, and a reminder that celebrities aren’t immune to negative comments.

Fallon has captured the popularity of Twitter for lots of people who use Twitter in a variety of  different ways. Some people follow their favorite entertainers (particularly comedians whose tweets are funnier than most). Others use Twitter to find like-minded opinions, searching through the hashtags as well as resources. Yet others utilize Twitter to develop a following and to create buzz.

Two Twitter stories from this past week:

One of our children had trouble with shipment of a coat she had ordered from a major department store. She got on the chatline and was treated quite favorably (especially for a 13 year old). She received an apology and a refund of the shipping cost. The next day, the Mom on her own Twitter account told about how great the store treated her daughter, including the store’s Twitter handle and the hashtag #customerforlife . The mom received within 12 hours a tweet back from the company, saying thank you for the shout-out and further inquiring about if the coat had arrived. Great use of Twitter.

A neighbor had a very unfavorable encounter with a third party installer of window blinds, purchased through a large national company. The neighbor happened to see the tweet of the CEO of the company, complaining about the poor customer service he was receiving as an airplane passenger. The neighbor sent a tweet to the CEO,  saying that the airline’s behavior was nothing compared to how he was treated by the vendor. Within 20 minutes, the neighbor received a call from a representative and his blinds were installed within 48 hours.

So, the Twitter takeaway:

• As customers, be aware of the power of Tweets. They might not make it to Jimmy Fallon, but companies are watching their @, and minding their reputation in the Twittersphere.
• As business owners, you or your marketing professional should be checking on your Twitter reputation as well and should be checking to be sure you are answering everyone, your fans and your critics.