Earlier today, I posted a simple observation on Twitter. “Interesting: @att has twice the Twitter followers of @verizonwireless and @verzion – so they have that going for them.” That sparked an outcry from disgruntled AT&T users who more or less said in reply: “that’s because everyone follows @att to complain!” Funny. And probably not too inaccurate. But two types of people I didn’t expect to respond started to: those from Verizon and AT&T.
Welcome to the chaos amongst the companies that is Verizon iPhone Eve.
“People watch train wrecks in droves, too,” John Czwartacki, a Verizon employee who edits their policy blog, wrote in his retweet of my message. Czwartacki has a history of this public trash talking towards AT&T. Which is fun, and we appreciate.
He followed that up with another retweet and another zinger: “that took long = 4 mins,” he wrote noting how people quickly were saying so many people only follow AT&T to complain.
Enter AT&T PR. “@parislemon It’s about engagement. We also answer people’s questions and comments on Facebook. That’s a more interesting and stark contrast,” Communications head Seth Bloom tweeted to me in response.
AT&T’s director of social media, Chris Baccus, quickly followed that up with, “@parislemon Our AT&T fans/followers talk on a lot of topics and we respect their time with follow up unlike some brands who just broadcast”
That sounds like a shot at Verizon. Now we’re getting somewhere.
All of this is quite humorous from a company PR/psychological warfare perspective. I’m just not sure why it had to fill up my @reply stream.
I’m also not sure why Verizon is sending tweets from the iPhone, then deleting them. Actually, I know exactly why they did that.
Everyone, it seems, is flipping out over this device — and that includes big companies who just can’t seem to contain themselves. Can’t wait for tomorrow!
http://twitter.com/#!/parislemon/status/24555272722710529
http://twitter.com/#!/parislemon/status/24556427146170368
http://twitter.com/#!/CZ/status/24557900722601984
http://twitter.com/#!/CZ/status/24560153630089216
http://twitter.com/#!/sethbloom/status/24562681709068288
http://twitter.com/#!/cbaccus/status/24569196834717696