Aug
27
I’ve been reading Heather Armstrong for years, and I’m a big fan. Truly, it was the experience of reading both her posts and Jessamyn’s during their pregnancies several years ago that helped me start feeling like I was maybe possibly in theory just a tiny bit ready to have kids of my own. The realness of what they wrote about did a lot for me in terms of confronting a lot of vague fears; the palpable beauty and love in their words helped me in ways I find difficult to explain.
I think Heather’s a hell of a smart cookie for leveraging her website the way she has, and I believe she deserves every bit of recognition she gets. She’s got an audience that’s hard for me to fathom—over a million followers on Twitter alone. Even subtracting the spambots, that’s . . . intense. That’s, like, the entire population of Detroit. Can you imagine sharing the intimate details of your life with Detroit? I mean, not Detroit specifically, just—fuck it, you know what I mean.
Anyway, if you follow her on Twitter you may have seen some posts from her about Maytag. I don’t know the whole story, but it sounds like she bought a brand new washing machine, it broke, and subsequent attempts to have it fixed didn’t work out. She posted several frustrated-sounding Twitter updates that repeatedly included the phrase DO NOT BUY MAYTAG.
It sounded like Home Depot connected with her on Twitter, and eventually, Whirlpool (the parent company of Maytag). It wasn’t clear if anyone actually called her, or did anything to help resolve the broken washer situation, but from the perspective of Twitter-bystander it sounded like they were trying to help. But maybe not. It was hard to tell.
I don’t work for Maytag, nor am I a fan of sitting back and accepting bad customer service. When I was treated poorly by American Airlines a while back, I definitely complained about it. I think it’s a good thing to share these stories, both for consumers and for the businesses that are hopefully going to see them.
I think there’s a difference, though, between taking the time to explain what went wrong, and basically calling for a boycott of a company because of your own personal experience. “Do not buy Maytag” is a call to action, and it went out to over a million people. Does Heather have the right to use Twitter to vent about an annoying situation she’s dealing with? Absolutely. Is there an ethical issue in telling such a large audience not to give a company their business, without providing any backstory aside from a short-by-nature series of updates someone may or may not have read, depending on how frequently they’re checking Twitter? Maybe. That’s where I disagree with her choice to call Maytag out in such a public fashion—not because she doesn’t have the right to receive good service, but because it was less of a “Hey Maytag, here’s what’s going on, you are totally shitting the bed right now,” and more of a no-context brand-bash to her entire audience.
At my company we monitor Twitter mentions constantly. Our support team jumps on any issues we see out there and we do our best to make pissed off people happy again. I fully understand the impact one person can have when they’re unhappy with your service, and maybe part of where I’m coming from is imagining being on the marketing side of Maytag right now, trying to do damage control and—from the looks of things—learning about Twitter for the first time (note that Whirlpool has a total of 11 updates, 4 of which involve Dooce).
Does Maytag deserve this kind of bad PR? Well, I think my problem with the whole thing is that I don’t know. I don’t know if it’s a company-wide Maytag problem, a local Home Depot problem, a stupid service-person problem, or what. A non-working washing machine sucks, especially in a house with kids—believe me, I get it. But should I not buy a Maytag the next time I need a new appliance? Heather seems to think so. And while I won’t make my purchasing decision based on one anecdotal piece of information, here’s the thing: some people will. Maybe a LOT of people. All you have to do is search Twitter for the responses people sent to Whirlpool on Heather’s behalf to understand the power of her influence. Or hell, look at some of the messages sent my way after I publicly disagreed with her.
Marketers will be talking about this, how one blogger stirred up so much conversation over a broken washing machine. People will theorize about the role of social media and the consumer, and much will be made of how consumers now have a voice in the face of uncaring corporate entities.
This isn’t quite the right story, though. Yes, companies should be using social media if they want to listen to their customers. Yes, consumers have the right to share their experiences, good and bad, because we can all benefit from that. But this isn’t the average customer/company interaction. Heather’s Maytag posts don’t prove that bitching about a company on Twitter gets you anywhere, it’s an anomalous data point. After all, how many people have over a million people listening to what we have to say? At this point, Maytag can’t win PR-wise: if they don’t respond, she stays mad; if they do respond, their actions seem less genuine than they would have been if Heather had, say, 20 followers. I think the more relevant issue has to do with whether a larger voice leads to greater responsibilities. In this case, as much as it seems like Heather should be able to say what she wants because what the hell, it’s her Twitter account . . . I kind of think it does.
I really do hope Heather’s washing machine gets fixed soon. And I hope that if the weird knocking sound in my dryer means my (non-Maytag) appliance is on its last legs, I can get it resolved. You know, on my own.
Comments
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My product review site:
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*sigh* I’m sick of Heather. There, I said it. I’m sick of her being the “face of blogging.”
I’m sick of her being the victim in all these “mommy wars” and not accepting responsibility. I’m sick of seeing her on TV and, according to her fans, never doing any wrong.
I don’t think she should have ever mentioned the company by name. I understand the need to vent. I do it all the time.
But I also don’t make my living writing a blog. (Although I wish I could.)
This is her job, and the line between her job and her life is a blurred one. Like it or not, she is a public figure. What she says has consequences. She likes the publicity, she likes the TV time and the ad revenue and she likes being well known. But she also wants to use the tools that MADE her Dooce as a place to vent, and claims that it was just her being a “real person.”
That is her job, and the life she’s chosen has forced her job and life to coincide. It’s not just her life anymore.
I’m rambling now, but the bottom line is that I’m a little sad about the whole thing. Heather wasn’t the first blog I ever read, but I enjoyed it. I just don’t know if I’m going to enjoy it quite as much now.
Yes. I could not agree more.
dude = Jon Armstrong.
FACT!
So, umm, Linda, Dude has a point, tell “Mia” to chill….and to stop deleting my posts with facts about Maytag.
Rock out with your Tweetie out. ;)
I’m not a regular reader, but I think I’m going to be after this post. I loved it! 100% in agreement.
“Dude”: again, I haven’t deleted a single comment in this thread.
Dear dumbasses. Dude = Me != John Armstrong unless John Armstrong lives in Alabama and zero tolerance for idiocy.
FACT.
Another FACT:
Maytag outsourced its production to cheap mexican labor in 2005 and had to settle a lawsuit for 2 million defective washing machines in 2005…but this blog keeps suppressing those FACTS.
Final Fact:
“The pen is mightier than the sword” is a quote you geniuses might want to wrap your head around, while you’re busy quoting Spiderman.
We live in an era where CEOs are payking themselves hundreds of millions of dollars while they fire hundreds of thousands of US workers……and they sell us increasingly unreliable products with toxic ingredients manufactured in China by the equivalent of slave labor, and you idiots rally around the call of “Don’t complain if you’ve got a blog!!!!”
Seriously.
How stupid are you people?
FACT.
I’ve ranted about customer service on my blog plenty. In fact, I just wrote about a terrible experience I had with Verizon this week.
The difference, I don’t use it to blackmail or as a call to action. It’s my blog and it’s my life. This is what is going on in my life. Had she just written a post like, this is the horrible experience I’m having with Maytag, that would have been one thing, but the threats are what get me.
Caveat, I don’t normally read Dooce or follow her tweets, I picked up on this b/c it was all over twitter.
Dear Linda:
You have suppressed the comments I have posted with links to the stories of Maytag’s outsourcing, their CEO pay, and their complaint history.
“Suppressed” is the word I used, not “deleted”.
As with your response to Dooce, you do not read carefully.
If you want to unsuppressed those comments with those links, you can *then* delete them. If you like.
LOL! Dude says
“So, umm, Linda, Dude has a point, tell “Mia” to chill….and to stop DELETING my posts with facts about Maytag.” (Emphasis mine)
Dude also says
“On that note, I bid you, your tempest, and your teapot goodbye. I never follow blogs of people for whom self interest is the altar of their religion.” But I guess he was lying about that too.
Jon, I can see/read your posts with links to Maytag info!! It’s right there!
I really appreciate the people in the comments who are trying to contribute to the overall discussion rather than taking sides, getting personal, and slamming people. Thank you to the unemotional here!
I hope this level of discourse doesn’t become a trend on here. Internet blog wars make me weary.
Normally love your site though, Linda. Pictures of your family brighten my day!
-Rebecca
So apparently, “dude” needs to get laid or something. And possibly actually READ your post above. Good grief.
1. I told you this yesterday and I Twittered it today: You have bigger balls than most men do.
2. You have handled yourself with nothing but class and all of your Tweets to Heather were respectful. You were just stating facts.
3. I am proud to call you “friend.”
Now, let’s all go look at the monkey/pigeon post that Alexa Twittered about and sing kumbaya. Or something.
Linda, I am a huge fan of you and your blog and agree for the most part, but I have to ask-don’t we have a responsibility ourselves not to jump off cliffs like lemmings just ’cause Dooce tells us to?? I mean, that’s what we are really talking about here isn’t it? She only has influence if we allow it. And there are a lot of influential people out there who are sketchy models of behaviour at best. Are they responsible for what they put out into the world? Yes, I definitely think they are. Are we responsible for looking at it with a critical eye? Yes. I get what you are saying but I think more of the ire should be directed at the sheep who are going to do whatever Heather says without looking into it for themselves.
Dear “Captain Obvious”, you may be able to see links to Maytag info, but I see no links. I see the unclickable links that I had to post to avoid having the post suppressed.
If Linda (or “Captain Obvious” or “Mia” or however she is posting) wanted to unsuppress the comments I’ve made, with the actual, clickable links, I’d see them too.
And the gold medal goes to MEP…
“Sour grapes” – spot on.
I’ve been a big fan of your blog but I have to say I won’t be reading this anymore. Loved your quirky posts but this is plain bitter.
I get that it’s great in theory to ‘stand up to the man’ but really, over their broken washing machine? Why should you decide the censorship for people’s tweets?
Honestly this is all a bit cringe worthy?
Dude, wait a second. “I never follow blogs of people for whom self interest is the altar of their religion”…and yet you’re here defending Dooce? Does not compute.
“Angella” says: on August 27th, 2009 3:38 pm
2. You have handled yourself with nothing but class and all of your Tweets to Heather were respectful. You were just stating facts.”
Riiiiiiiiight.
Her Tweets to and ABOUT Heather (emphasis mine) were snide and stupid, like a homecoming princess gossiping about the valedictorian….just immature and snide.
Here are a few of her Tweets:
Linda: “Would now be a bad time to mention this weird noise our dryer is making? I think there might be a sense of entitlement stuck inside it.about 7 hours ago from Tweetie”
(Just snide…what “fact” is Linda using?)
“@dooce This isn’t consumer justice via social media. This is an unusually influential person slandering a company with no explanation.”
(Even though Dooce HAD Explained, ad nauseum, about the multiple breakdowns and repairman visits. Even though there was zero “slander”. Even though Dooce’s total twitter following is less than 1/2 of the 2 million people who were sold defective washers by Maytag, and less than 0.5 percent of the 200 Million buying public)
Nope, this is just sour grapes..and a demonstration of how to spin reality.
Seriously, geniuses who support this chick Linda: Corporations are pulling all the large levers in this country, including Congress, with impunity, for the obscene profit of a few guys who sit in the top offices….and yet you support her idiotic call to “Stop Complaining Dooce! Stop announcing that a particular piece of overpriced, outsourced machinery sucks! Heavens to Betsy! A million people read your comments! Don’t COMPLAIN about a CORPORATION!”
What.
An.
Idiot.
Wow, didn’t know that Jon Armstrong was such a douche. Interesting.
For me, the whole point is Heather’s decision to use her internet “power” to sway Maytag. Of course, she must bear responsibility for that decision and the words she used. She was clearly trying to draw Maytag’s attention to her issues because whoever she’d been approaching at Maytag wasn’t taking care of her problem. There’s no question about that. So then, she’s certainly got to expect that people aren’t going to like her approach because it can be interpreted either as arrogance (because she knows Maytag knows about her wide audience and will jump on her issue) or as her right as an internet celebrity to wield her influence. Some will like it, some won’t, and that’s what she should expect. It is no different than any other opinion that she expresses so I guess what surprises me about the entire situation is that she’s reacting at all to what anyone says. If she feels she’s got the right to do what she did, she should shrug and move on. I read both Heather and Linda and will continue to do so. I now think Heather’s a bit more arrogant than I thought she was and I doubt Heather gives a crap that anyone out here feels that way.
I’m not defending Dooce, moron. I’m defending Dooce’s right to speak her mind about a defective piece of overpriced, high margin hardward sold by a Corporation that outsourced the building to that hardware to Mexico, and paid their CEO 12 million dollars in severance.
Dooce has the right to complain. As an individual, she has the unique ability to expose a symptom of what is happening here in the good old US of A.
For this Linda person to say “tut, tut, I De-Clare! She should’n’t speak ILL of this poor CORP-O-RAYSHUN! Deeya MEE!!” is the epitome of stupidity.
It is so stupid, I think I smell self interest at work…just as it is in her self interest to have this be a knockdown debate, because it will draw more viewers to her blog.
You people are idiots.
FACT.
I’m trying to think of a really witty and intelligent way to say that you rock — but I can’t really think of one.
You do rock, though.
Vocalizing something that you think in a respectful way should never be attacked — those who are being disrespectful to you are sad. It’s a difference of opinion people, move on!
Go on with your bad self!
I think it’s time to coin the phrase “doocebag”
Dear “dude”,
If anyone is acting like a homecoming princess it is you sir.
I am a douche, absolutely…but I am not John Armstrong. Although, since you idiots have no intelligent reply to any of the points I’ve made, I guess I’ll just assume that you are aliases for the person who writes this blog, because she is an idiot…..so it all fits.
There is such a bigger issue at play here than the whole Sundry vs. The Armstrong’s, I really wish drama didn’t always prevail. Social media is so powerful that The Armstrong’s were offered several machines from other companies, sure they might be donating them to shelter’s, but the fact that a couple of pissed off tweets from Heather led companies to offer free appliances is almost a little scary to me. Should we be scaring the shit out of these companies to get their customer service skills together? Maybe Heather is that person to do it? But when one voice can spark all this controversy around one item surely we should tread lightly with any power we might have, no?
Dude, congratulations on being the first to cross the line in such a ridiculous manner. I don’t think I’ve ever blacklisted someone, nor do I delete comments, but I’ll be doing so with you from now on. You’re welcome to send hate mail to me directly if that turns your crank, but no one else needs to hear your ass-braying.
Dude may not be Jon Armstrong, but they would get along well.
Kudos to Linda for expressing a valid and well-stated opinion and for holding her own against the megalomaniac Dooce, who just can’t hang when things get tough.
Do you not think there’s a reason so many people follow Dooce, and not Linda? Nobody forces anybody to follow their tweets or blogs…. The whole thing about blogging is voicing YOUR opinions and hearing who YOU want, it’s not brainwashing that keeps you on someone’s page – it’s the content!
If you feel like giving out about something maybe you should have giving Maytag a call? Hmm.. I think they do actually call themselves a cooperation, unlike Heather?
In the end of the day, Linda’s bullying (come on guys, look at the behaviour, we can all see the real bully here) will stand towards her and the people reading Dooce’s tweets have already understood her sense of humour.
If anything, Linda has made more of a commotion about Maytag than Heather ever did!
This argument has nothing to do with Maytag as a corporation. It has everything to due with someone’s inflated sense of entitlement and exploiting the medium that created her monster, for her own personal gain. That’s it.
Sundry, I am sorry I got off course with the dude’s ramblings. I really like your insights on this whole fiasco, and you’ve remained the bigger person in all of this. Kudos!
Dude, we aren’t talking about lead paint that CAN KILL PEOPLE, we are talking about a machine that cleans clothes. I don’t understand you Dude.
Oops out of context now that Dude is banned…please feel free to delete this and that last post Linda :)
Now who’s slandering whom, Kate? ;-)
I’m kidding. I’m the real Jon Armstrong and I think it’s great that Linda decided to disagree or to question why Heather would do whatever with her twitter account. I also think it’s great that Heather took it to Twitter. We live in amazing times.
I’ve got diapers and snuggles and naps to get to without coming on someone’s site and using a pseudonym to belittle somebody for disagreeing over how Twitter is being used or that they feel someone with a lot of followers should act a certain way. If anything, I’d be willing to bet that if Linda and Heather sat down and talked about this, even if there was continued or further disagreement, that the conversation would be civil.
Also, everybody on here has a right to their opinion. Y’all get up on it!
It should be said that Heather’s waiting to post about this to see how Maytag handles it tomorrow. We’re waiting for parts (overnighted, instead of the usual 7-10 day wait) and to see if the repair works or there is a deeper problem. Hopefully, there will be some other great news out of this and I’ll let Heather share that.
We’ve all had bad days. I suppose that at some point, those bad days shouldn’t be public, but that’s what makes life interesting. I’m sure some or all of you might disagree.
Linda, keep it up. I mean that. Not being snarky at all. If we can’t disagree publicly with somebody or question them, the world would be a boring, awful place. Hopefully after Heather explains herself tomorrow, you might soften or change your view. Then again, you might not and that’s just fine.
I don’t disagree, and yet I don’t really agree…I work in a library where people watch a lot of porn (we don’t filter and we allow anything as long as it’s not illegal). A lot of people are uncomfortable with this and people complain to me a lot. “There are children here,” they exclaim. “This offends me,” is another. It’s dirty, it’s wrong, it’s anti-feminist, it’s degrading. And we allow it, because of the first amendment. I say, “It could be for research. For school.” (Probably not, but still, their rights. I’m not going to suppress them.)
I like both Linda and Heather because they are open and honest (as far as I can tell) in their writing. But I still think Dooce can say whatever the hell she wants on her twitter stream, and so can you. And me. And that annoying dude guy too. Even if it is offensive or irresponsible or whatever the adjective of the day is.
Thanks for the thoughtful comment, Jon. I’ll tell you what: I truly do expect to read Heather’s account and agree that the situation was a service nightmare. I may even make some judgements (and future consumer decisions) about Maytag as a result of hearing the full story, who knows. But that won’t change my opinion of how the Twitter communication was handled, because the story didn’t go out with those communications.
I don’t feel I’ve been uncivil to Heather nor her to me, in my mind this is just a disagreement and an interesting conversation to have. I’m glad you support the discussion.
Dooce vs. Sundry would be a sexy brawl. Would totally pay the PPV fees. ; )
I JOKE, I JOKE!
just had to throw that out there.
Thank you Linda…*slow clapping*…I’m so happy you felt free to speak your mind and dare to say something that conflicts with Heather’s opinion. Her followers are legion and while I’m sure many are lovely people with independent minds – from the comments you see here and elsewhere it is obvious that too many have sipped her Borg juice and can see no wrong. Dooce followers, take a breather, remember that everyone is allowed an opinion, and dial back the passion a notch before you defend Heather.
Also, I’m a little sad that Dude was blocked – he was starting to amuse me. FACT. haha I’m still chuckling.
Sweet Jesus, if people are going to boldly denounce a product in a public forum, it’s not too unreasonable that others may respond in the same public forum desiring the full story or, gasp, even saying said denouncing isn’t entirely fair without giving the full story. It’s not worth panty-wadding about, it’s a simple difference of opinion & should not be ridiculously divided into “if you agree you’re a sychophant if you disagree you’re a hater” sides. The same right to complain stand should be balanced with another’s right to respectfully respond, if even if the response disagrees with the manner of the original complaint. That’s all that’s happened here for fuck’s sake.
YMMV but I would have deleted “dude” once he started name-calling. People, the idea that Jon Armstrong is over here all incognito is absurd.
I read and really enjoy both Dooce and Sundry (did I say that already?). I think it’s fine to have an opinion about Heather and her fame and what responsibility may come with that but saying it out loud to her and everyone else came off as judgey to me. Then everybody gets pissy because Heather should have taken your scolding and what? Apologized? To who?
I try to read bloggers that stay above the fray but this time you started it.
But I’m not unfollowing or deleting either of you from my feed, I’ll just be happy when it blows over.
Bravo!
I saw Dooce’s orginal post and was a little bothered by it, but figured what the hell, it’s her Twitter account. However, you have a good point about her realm of influence and I think it was great that you voiced your opinion. The back and forth was interesting to follow. Also, was amused by Blurb’s commentary on the situation. I’m sorry you felt that you needed to write a post to explain yourself. I thought you did quite well in the 140 word restriction imposed by Twitter.
Much as my inadvertant incorrect spelling is making me laugh, I meant sycophant, not scyhophant, of course :).
I think all of this is ridiculous… seriously.
You not only have the balls to start this discussion but the dick to follow through. Rock out with…well, YOU KNOW (because it is LAAAAARGE.)
Once again Linda, I must express the admiration I feel for both you and your commenters-the different topics that have been discussed here with respect and tolerance-it always has amazed me.
The fact that dude doesn’t seem to be getting what he wants-a shitstorm of abuse from your readers-must be extremely frustrating for him.
OHHH MY GOD. it’s simple, Sundry is right, and the other is WRONG. Gulp it down! like a shot of MOONSHINE. yeah it burns but it’s how the earth rotates, gravity, the essence of time…. GEEEEEZUZ!
Oh also, the very fact your were told to “keep it up” but in the same sentence Jon clicked his heels twice in hopes of your “view to soften or change” shouts some kind of publicity thang. Really this is a no brainer, considering all sides its STILL a no brainer…
I nearly fell off the fucking elliptical this morning when I saw your @ replies. In fact, I think I even shouted “OH SNAP!” (much to the dismay of my fellow gym-goers who were trying to watch Judge Joe Brown or some such.) Lawd love a good old fashioned Hazzard County Tweet-Off.
I guess I’ve never really considered Heather/Dooce a celebrity and thus don’t understand the outrage on either side. To me, it was just one person confronting another about something that irked them. I suppose the reason that I’m impressed is because I don’t have the energy to get worked up about much of anything.
Bottom line, I would hope that her followers – and society in general – would be smart enough not to judge a product/brand based on one person’s 140-character diatribes.
I kinda just wish COMPANIES would not jump all over social media complaining. Perhaps they could hear my phone calls and emails as just as persuasive as a popular blogger complaining on a micro-blogging site. Companies need to stop jumping to serve those who Negative Tweet.
Very well said, including the response to commenters.