A cautionary tale: I can’t even remember exactly what the comment was, but it was spammy and off-topic. It also included a real email address, and it was a legitimate business doing the wrong thing online.

So I sent an email. It wasn’t a particularly nice one. What I said to the PR rep who left it was “You’re gonna be in a whole WORLD of hurt if you keep this up with other bloggers!”

On Friday, I got a somewhat defensive email from the CEO of the offending company. I wrote back saying, in part, “It was perhaps harshly worded–but while I kept my response private, other bloggers will call you out, and I wanted to make sure that you avoided that.” I also offered up several social media consultants that could help get everyone up-to-speed on netiquette, and suggest he have a strong word with his PR and marketing people. This is the reply I got:

Thank you…I did clarify it with my PR department…the manager, which we just let go, was misinforming the team on proper netiquette.

You should see the difference in future posts.

Thanks again for the response.

Now sure, there could have been many other reasons why that manager was let go, but I’m pretty sure this didn’t help that person’s cause. She encouraged spamming, and she got fired.

Folks, you don’t drive without a license. Don’t participate in social media without understanding first what is appropriate and what is not.