PR and Social Media - Halifax

        It has been claimed that the most dangerous device known to man or woman is a 280-character instant messaging social medium named Twitter, or “X” as it is now also referred to (Seitel, 2019). The wrong messaging or perceived message from a tweet can be devastating for an individual or company. There are over 368 million monthly users on twitter, and with features like the “retweet” button or being able to “quote tweet” other’s posts allow for these messages to spread like wildfire (Dean, 2023). If the public’s opinion on the tweet backfires, this could result in a loss of sales for the company, damaged reputation, and even a loss of jobs for those involved.

        One example of the weight that a 280-character tweet can hold comes from a British banking brand called Halifax. The company put out a post on Twitter with the caption “Pronouns matter” underneath a photo of a name badge with pronouns under the employee’s name, shown here. It is important to note that based on all evidence available, Halifax portrayed genuine intentions of showing that they were working to be an inclusive company to work for, allowing their employees to display their pronouns on their name badges if they wish. This tweet ended up getting a lot of traction on social media, which spread quickly, resulting in some strong opinions on Halifax.

        The main cause of the backlash was due to people claiming that this was an attempt of “virtue signaling” or Halifax purposely posting this content to demonstrate their good character/ moral correctness. Others made claims that this was an attempt to impose world views on them that they did not share (Espiner, 2022). Halifax stood by their tweet, putting out a statement claiming that they strive for inclusion and doing what is right, and those who disagree are welcome to close their accounts. A photo of that tweet in a local newspaper is shown below. Today, Halifax is still a successful banking brand, and continues to share their thoughts via Twitter, or “X”. Look at their account and recent posts here.

 

        Public relations involvement in social media platforms is only becoming increasingly more important. This is due to widespread worldwide social media usage, and the increasing impact of public opinion on a company’s success. This is a perfect example of how impactful a single message on a social media platform can be, and why public relations is necessary in these situations. 

References

Dean, B. (2023). X (Twitter) Statistics: How Many People Use X? (2024). SEO Training and Link Building Strategies – Backlinko. https://backlinko.com/twitter-users

Espiner, T. (2022, June 30). Halifax says pronoun badge critics can close accounts. BBC Breaking News, World News, US News, Sports, Business, Innovation, Climate, Culture, Travel, Video & Audio. https://www.bbc.com/news/business-61992057

 

Seitel, F. P. (2019). The Practice of Public Relations (14th ed.). Pearson.