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JPMorgan cancels Twitter Q&A after tirade of abuse
More than two-thirds of tweets using #AskJPM were negative, according to research
JPMorgan Chase has become the latest company to cancel a question and answer session on Twitter after it prompted a tirade of verbal abuse from thousands of people on the site.
At least two-thirds of 80,000 tweets sent using the hashtag #AskJPM were negative, according to Topsy, which analyses Tweets.
One of the company’s senior bankers who worked on Twitter’s share sale, Jimmy Lee, had planned to take over JPMorgan’s Twitter page on Thursday in an online marketing event.
But by yesterday afternoon due to the scale of the abuse the company cancelled the event, announcing: “Tomorrow’s Q&A is cancelled. Bad Idea. Back to the drawing board.”
The bank has been the subject of criticism since its $13 billion settlement for mis-selling mortgage-backed securities and its $6 billion London Whale trading losses.
Abusive tweets included: “Quick! You’re in a room with no key, a chair, two paper clips, and a lightbulb. How do you defraud investors?”
Another wrote: “What’s your favourite type of whale? #AskJPM”
The Wall Street bank is not the first to incur the wrath of Twitter users when attempting to hold an online question and answer session.
Just last month on the day it announced price rises of 10 per cent, British Gas’s #AskBG Twitter campaign was flooded with anger at rising pries, profits and executive pay.
Bert Pijls, the company’s Customer Service Director, was asked: “My office has a window where the sun comes in and makes the side of my head really hot. How much do I owe you?”
Social media analysts suggested the backlash was inevitable.
Debra Williamson, an analyst with research firm E-Marketer, told the FT: “I think companies sometimes forget that social media belongs to the people. Consumers have control beyond their wildest expectations.
“Brands spend a lot of money to try to get something positive to go viral – spread a video around or an ad or a tweet – but all it takes is one misstep.”
JPMorgan currently has just over 9,000 followers on Twitter.