Angry with an airline? Don’t phone, tweet

Not so long ago, a man on a plane was served a sandwich he didn’t like. He used Twitter – the real-time personal news feed, if you didn’t know – to alert the world to his displeasure. An airline employee on the ground saw the tweet, relayed the message to a flight attendant who minutes later asked the man what could be done to assuage his disappointment.

Welcome to travel 2012 style, if you’re doing it right.

Once seemingly impenetrable behemoths, airlines have become remarkably accessible thanks to social media, especially in the real-time world of Twitter. Most, if not all, airlines have Twitter feeds that allow customers to converse and, more important, solve problems in real time, whether for a large issue (stranded in an airport) or small (a lousy sandwich).

Stuart Greif, vice president of global travel for J.D. Power and Associates, said the sandwich story, which he said he discussed with an executive of the airline involved, shows social media’s benefits for the travelers who are savvy enough to use them.

“If a customer has a problem, the fastest way to address it has become social media,” Greif said. “Younger generations might never call into a call center. They might always go online and address these things in real time.”

Another platform could one day overtake Twitter, but for now it is the primary tool for real-time reaction from an industry that triggers anxiety and frustration like few others. Go to any of the major airlines’ Twitter feeds, and you will see (often entertaining) exchanges with frustrated passengers.

“We consider Twitter the canary in the coal mine,” said Morgan Johnston, JetBlue‘s social media strategist. “It’s not always fun to be called out publicly, but if there’s something really wrong with our operation, it shows up a lot faster, and we’re able to fix it.”Among the most aggressive Twitter users has been American Airlines, which has sent more messages than any of its competitors and which recently expanded its Twitter coverage from 6am to midnight, up from 7 am to 8pm. The ultimate goal is staffing 24 hours a day, as several other airlines already do.

In our region, Qantas leads the way with 17,000 tweets published, though its social media strategy has occasionally backfired.

via Angry with an airline? Don’t phone, tweet.

Strange Random Anger Quote:

“Speak when you are angry and you will make the best speech you will ever regret.” ― Ambrose Bierce

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Creative America releases new anti-piracy video – latimes.com

Hollywood‘s ambitious campaign to educate the public and its own workforce about the perils of film piracy has produced — what else — another film.

Creative America, the group launched this summer to muster support in the creative community for tougher anti-piracy laws, recently debuted a 12-minute video that highlights the impact of content theft on all aspects of the filmmaking chain — from the grips to the independent filmmakers.

The video, which was more than two months in the making, is posted on Creative America’s website at http://www.creativeamerica.org.

Through internal videos, newsletters, emails and booths set up in company commissaries, media giants such as NBC, Viacom, Sony Pictures and Warner Bros. have been encouraging their employees to join Creative America.

via Creative America releases new anti-piracy video – latimes.com.

And it is a very good video. Well-made, as you might expect, sincere, but absolutely lacking in substance and energetically waving a Stars and Stripes. In fact, it looks very much like Public Service movies of the 50s, warning people of the dangers of Marijuana or similar. But you decide …

http://vimeo.com/32592166

Strange Random Piracy Quote:

“Where there is a sea there are pirates” – Greek proverb

Related articles

• Creative America releases new anti-piracy video (latimesblogs.latimes.com)
• NBC exposed as strong-arming suppliers into supporting SOPA (thenextweb.com)
• Artists Unite to Stop Film and TV Piracy (mediabistro.com)
• Your tax dollars at work: misleading, lurid “anti-piracy” ad campaign from US AG and Natl Crime Prevention Council (boingboing.net)
• Anti-piracy group BREIN caught ripping off music (inquisitr.com)
• Hollywood unions, networks and studios mount anti-piracy offensive (latimesblogs.latimes.com)
• NBC Universal threatens suppliers to support SOPA/PIPA, or else (americablog.com)
• Web Freedom Groups Spar With Hollywood in SOPA Fight Online (clickz.com)