On Friday, January 9th I tweeted a statistic Tony Robbins revealed while being interviewed by one of Success Magazine’s writers. The statistic is related to the number of people who won’t follow through on the resolutions aka goals they set on New Year’s Day. Tony said, “98% of the people who set resolutions will give up within six weeks.”
As you may imagine, I tweeted Tony’s comment because it seemed like useful information to share. What happened afterward was absolutely mind blowing! A guy retweeted my tweet but added a link to it without my approval. I was displeased with this twitter user’s blatant disregard of etiquette, and I immediately tweeted a message politely requesting that he refrain from such behavior.
Seconds after tweeting my message to him, two other twitter users retweeted his message of my tweet with the link. I sent the same message requesting that they not retweet my message with a link that I didn’t approve. Both of them quickly deleted the message and apologized.
However, the original perpetrator didn’t delete the message. Instead he retweeted my request with the question, “How would I know?” My question is this, “How would he not know?” I sent him a message letting him know my tweet didn’t have a link in it.
Then he tweeted a message that read, “I don’t add links when I retweet. Is your posture what you teach your clients?”(sic) I was shocked and began to feel angry!
My next message informed him that he did add a link and I would be showing a screen shot of it on my blog. In a split second, he tweeted a message to me that read, “ahh I added a link because the quote associated with which is not yours one was liked.(sic) I apologize you are correct.”(sic) But wait! The story doesn’t end there.
A few seconds later I tweeted a message agreeing with the fact that the quote wasn’t my own. My message read, “right. i quoted tony robbins.” He retweeted this message and added, “…And I’m saying that [insert link] is about reversing those stats.”
So the message read, “RT @Ron_Hudson: right. i quoted tony robbins. And I am saying that [insert link] is about reversing those stats.”
If you had seen that retweeted message, would you have concluded that the entire message came from me? I’m sure most people did. So, in response, he made the situation much worse from my perspective, not better. He had now connected my name to a link of which I had not approved… twice!
Moving on.
Initially, I thought about blogging about this incident the day after it happened. Obviously I decided to put off taking that action because I felt it unwise to act out of anger. I also decided against posting the screen shots for four reasons:
- It may appear retaliatory.
- It would, once again, publish the link he was promoting by attempting to borrow my credibility.
- Regardless of his behavior, I don’t harbor any hard feelings and I don’t want to ruin his reputation, although I did stop following his twitter updates and blocked him to avoid a similar situation.
- Generally I give people the benefit of the doubt and believe that no harm was meant by their action(s).
During the course of this interaction several people tweeted and direct-messaged me regarding the inappropriate actions of this twitter user. Most were bothered. One was outraged, as was I. Thanks to those of you who offered your advice and kind words.
Let me conclude this post by restating the obvious… It’s a big mistake to use another person’s credibility to drive traffic to your site, without their permission, on twitter or otherwise. This is similar to stealing a person’s identity or brand. There are many things that can ruin a person’s reputation and, I would have to say, this is one of them.
With your success in mind,
Ron
Bad behavior should be stopped somehow on Twitter (e.g.) I use it and there are many who talk like they own Twitter. There should be a “complaint dep.” Who’s with me?
Hi Ron,
When you first told me about the guy adding a link to your Retweet I couldn’t believe that someone would do something like that. After reading how he reacted when you approached him about it, I CAN believe he would do something like that.
As I said to you before, adding a link to a retweet is one of the lowest Twitter tactics I’ve heard of. And in mho, nothing short of brand-jacking.
Sharon McPherson
@SharonMcP
Sharon McPherson´s last blog post..Sylvie Fortin Advises Niche Marketers To ‘Dummie Up’
No complaints department. It would add to the mayhem that Twitter already is. Be sensible users. Hit block, and move on with your life. Why let such a trifle ruin your day? I don’t think it’s ruined anything, least of all your brand or reputation. Keep on keeping on.
Jé Maverick´s last blog post..Between The Lines
I’m not sure what it is that makes people think that proper behavior does not matter here on the interwebs. In my naive opinion, I think that it’s even more important to hold yourself to a higher standard here because once you put something out into the cyberworld, you have a darn difficult time taking it back (as evidenced by Ron’s incident). It’s out there forever. That’s a long time in my book!
With the way business works these days, the internet is often the first impression we get to make on someone. I think before we hit the “enter” button, we need to stop and ask ourselves, “if I was in a conference room, surrounded by these people, would I still choose to say this?” We might be surprised by the answer.
Having said all that, I must say that I have met and developed relationships with some of the most wonderful people through Twitter. And, just as in real life, I focus my time on them, not the folks who don’t play nice!
Judy
@realestatechick
I’m with Jé Maverick. If you let this other twit’s negative rule your positivity, then you lose… Hit block and move on.
I must say, it’s pretty big of you to not “out” the guy, he knows who he is.
Curious, was the link he added, a link to the information you were providing? .. If you were telling a fact on twit was he just supporting it?
Philip M. Hofer (Frumph)´s last blog post..Zom-Ben STRIKES!
Philip, no the link wasn’t to information I provided. Remember, my message didn’t have any link. Thanks for visiting!
It was great lesson in what one shouldn’t do. Some people won’t know what’s right or wrong unless we educate them. Thanks for visiting!
Oh dear! I am not sure if I had committed a “RT Sin” myself! I sometimes lump 2 RTs from 2 different ppl into one tweet!
Ron, do you think that was a dumb thing I did?
Btw, the original retweeter should have admitted his mistake instead of adding fuel to the fire. I have no respect for such ppl!
kelly´s last blog post..qutequte: Looking at http://www.jessie-lynne.com/ Okie I’m going 2bed soon! My throat hurts. Let’s re-connect tomorrow! night night!
Ron,
Brandjacking. That is a great word.
Your thoughts on what that is and why it is wrong would make a great blog post.
As always, I enjoy how you think.
Susan
One of the many reasons I don’t use Twitter.
(The first syllable says it all really).
Ron,
This is a great post with a clear warning to those looking to ride the success of others in order to gain personal merit.
I have also had an issue on Twitter with something called “hashtag hijacking.” Some folks will take a trending hashtag, add it to their own spammy message, and sometimes go so far as to add a second hashtag to piggyback on a party’s success. For example, if #laundryalt is the number 2 hashtag for the night as it was last Friday, someone may tweet: “Great deals on white pants at (link) #whitepants #laundryalt” The technique is obviously used to spam an entire room full of Twitter users, show up on Summize searches, etc., but what on earth makes those users think that this is a viable option for getting their message out?
In short, I’m sorry about your retweeting nightmare, I’m impressed with your cool headed decision, and I hear ya, man!
-Amy
Hi Amy,
Glad you like the post. It was a shocking experience for me. See you on twitter!