When Social Media policies go wrong: the fake HSBC review site

126 hsbc.jpgBig companies like to have social media policies – and they should. However sometimes engaging with social media can come back and bite you on the ass.

New site hsbcreviews.com shows that: 1) engaging with the disgruntled masses, means you sometimes get more flak than mutually beneficial interaction and 2) that HSBC is not wildly popular on Twitter.

Not an official site by any means, hsbcreviews was created by social media company ThruSites.com, who picked HSBC at random to make a demonstration site showing how a significant company is portrayed in social media. The site is quite simple – it pulls in mentions of HSBC from the Twittersphere, then classifies them as a Fail or a Win for the bank and compiles the results in the fail pie chart, pictured above.

Some of the tweets they have gathered are not really related to HSBC the bank and its services. For example: “The number of red and white jerseys in HSBC Arena is really disturbing. #Sabres #DeadThings” from kim_chi

Some tweets are all too much related to the bank’s services and come from a place of pain: “I hate HSBC with the biggest dissatisfied passion. Don’t tell me one thing and then tell me something completely different. ANGER” from tfooksbale

And then some are almost poetry: “WHY ARE YOU SAYING I NEED A MASTERCARD SECURE NUMBER? I DON’T HAVE A MASTERCARD OR A SECURE NUMBER. SUCK MY LEG YOU HSBC IDIOTS.” From harrietishere

Well, I’m not sure that that little exercise is going to have HSBC running to pay thrusites to make it a better social media policy. But, I suppose it shows it could pick up a few tips on improving its customer service.

Related: Video dissing social media guru is an internet hit

Anna Leach

One thought on “When Social Media policies go wrong: the fake HSBC review site”

  • ASOS have just launched http://www.asosreviews.com, which shows that raw customer reviews sites like HSBCreviews.com are not necessarily a bad thing if your brand is popular and you are doing all the right things to keep your customers happy.

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