How BP is using Twitter to clean up its Gulf image
A BP Twitter campaign to clean up its image in the wake of the Gulf of Mexico disaster has come under fire from The Guardian’s Alex Hannaford.
In a comment piece he claims BP’s is selectively tweeting out good news, and the strategy could backfire.
For example, one Tweet said that a ‘new study finds methane bacteria has eaten all the methane from the oil spill earlier than expected.’
However, by clicking on the full story linked viewers can see a quote from marine ecologist Samantha Joye of the University of Georgia countering: “Not so fast…just because you can’t find methane in the spot where you lowered your instruments doesn’t mean there’s no methane out there.”
Another BP tweet claimed: “BP’s cleanup operations are ‘on track’ with the goal of cleaning Gulf beaches by spring tourist season.”
However, many, including Ed Overton of Louisiana State University would contradict this. He was quoted as saying, “there are so much oil under the sand that tar balls may be washing up for months if not year.”
And so it goes on. A string of BP tweets claiming gulf hotels are booming – thanks to there emergency personnel being put up for nights – to the population of manatees (a docile sea mammal) have all been contradicted and attacked in a way that can only happen in the world of social media.
But whoever is being paid to tweet has obviously got a thick skin; or a fat fee. By 4pm today they had already despatched 18 tweets.
Those looking for a fascinating insight into how a major company is handling social media as part of a crisis PR strategy can follow them on Twitter: @BP_America.