Friendster Group CEO trolls competitor’s Facebook Page, demonstrates wrong way to use social media

21 July 2010 • 51 Comments

Ganesh Kumar Bangah, Group CEO of Friendster and MOL Sdn Bhd, was in the spotlight yesterday for using social media to bad mouth a competitor.

The competitor in question is OffGamers, a company that does microtransactions for game currency. They posted a link to promote their service on their Facebook Page yesterday and Ganesh took to opportunity to post a snide comment. The situation devolved into one where the CEO of one of Asia’s largest internet companies taking cheap shots at OffGamers.

View the entire thread on OffGamers’s Facebook Page

The Friendster CEO’s actions is a case study of exactly the wrong thing to do with social media. So what can we learn from this episode?

Don’t Bad Mouth or Snipe Your Competition

As unhappy as one may be of their competitors, one should never try to “do something about it”. Many times rash actions will backfire and result in the competitor getting even more publicity. It’s also petty and casts a negative light on the person posting at best, and the whole company at worst.

If a response is absolutely necessary, always plan in advance and post a full, official statement on your own website, not in the competitor’s web properties.

Always Be Respectful

The goal of engaging in social media is to grow your network and social capital. This is based on trust and respect, and you must first show respect to be respected yourself.

Engaging in social media is very similar to engaging in any other social situation, for example a networking event or party. What Ganesh did is similar bad mouthing OffGamers in their office or Christmas party. In his last comment, Ganesh said that he wasn’t gate crashing – this is the way social media works.

This is absolutely 100% wrong and it shows everyone watching how incredibly arrogant Ganesh must be to think he has the right to do such a thing.

Always Be Humble

Your ability to comment on other people’s websites and profiles is not a right. It’s a privilege which you should never forget. Even if you are the market leader, be gracious and humble. Don’t burn bridges and make enemies publicly. As the Group CEO of Friendster, Ganesh should know how quickly things can change and one day he may find the position reversed.

Finally…

Remember that every action you take online today can and will be recorded for posterity in Google’s cache, Archive.org, tweets and blog posts like this one, and some marketing case study. It takes only 1 dumb move to start people talking and to find negative results about your company on the 1st page of Google search results.

For the record I thought that OffGamers’ response were excellent and didn’t allow themselves to be dragged into a mud-slinging competition. Their approach was to take the high ground and stand up for themselves, which is what other companies should do in this situation. Kudos to the OffGamers team.

51 Comments

http://envb.sapphirewillow.com/writings feicipet

“If a response is absolutely necessary, always plan in advance and post a full, official statement on your own website, not in the competitor’s web properties.”

Honestly, this is a double-edged sword. If a company stays within the official boundaries and keeps away from the grassroots level (which is basically something that social networks allows you to do), somebody’s bound to say they’re uppity and stand-offish.

The trick is to basically balance customer’s perception of your social behavior. The MOL CEO definitely was at a disadvantage due to the fact that he’s perceived as Big Corp everybody loves to hate while OffGamers is the underdog everybody’s rooting for. If it was between 2 companies on equal footing, I doubt the blowback would be as harsh.

http://theclickstarter.com David Wang

That’s a good point, although I meant an “official response”. However, even between companies that are equal, one should never post snide remarks.

http://twitter.com/runningandrew Andrew

As a CEO, he shouldn’t even be posting in that manner in the first place right? And he tried to cover his mistake by saying “embracing social media”.

Drsammy boy

Ganesh is definitely right,thats why he is a CEO of MOL and u r not.

Ganesh Kuman Bangala

And MOL is definitely better, as Ganesh is their CEO. Deal with it.
Dzack

hahahaha…ok Drsampta…let me guess you are in employee at MOL??? Pretty obvious that you are based off of your numerous posts….FAIL
bot

FAIL indeed. This is beyond pathetic.

Anonymous

Its social media, not a sword. There are ethics and what he did was spam and insult. No one does that in the real world, its akin to going to another shop and telling the customers that that shop sucks. They would be thrown out at minimum.

Its the same thing here, you wouldn’t want people to come to your house and insult you would you?

http://envb.sapphirewillow.com/writings feicipet

The parable is wrong. You wouldn’t let just anybody in your house, no? It’s a Facebook page, not their company website/blog with moderated comments. Any of my FB friends can post on my wall as long as I allow them to. And when I allow them to (my decision), can I complain if they post up something I don’t like? Nope. Too bad, so sad.

So basically, no it’s not Offgamers’ house, it’s a public square that they set up a booth at. So let’s talk about the ethics of this, since that’s what most of the naysayers are talking about. I can point out a whole number of similar practices that somehow are accepted as a business norm:

1) Take a look at any Linux focused website with ads. There will be a high chance that the ads are Microsoft ads and they’re a competitor. Unethical? It’s just simple competition and placing the ads where the target market is.
2) The details are blurry, but I remember when BMW won some sort of award, Mercedes put out full page advertisements all over congratulating them on their first award for something Mercedes had won for the past 10 years running (again, details are sketchy, it’s just something along those lines). Again, unethical? Most of use had a good laugh at it and left it at that.

And then let’s talk about the “insult”. I assume that’s the comment about “any intelligent person”, yes? Well, I’d point you to DiGi’s “Always the smarter choice” slogan. Do I hear Maxis and Celcom users up in arms and say “what, I’m not smart enough for ya?”. Oh, but maybe some of the naysayers would retort saying “DiGi’s is an advertisement! That’s different!”, to which I’d say, if they’re willing to apply different standards to reality and ads, then they fully deserve those ridiculous KFC menu pictures where the food is at least twice the size of what we get in real life.

There’s no denying that this Ganesh dude failed to achieve what he wanted, which was simply to point out that he felt his offering was better. His choice of words turned off too many of the people reading the thread and he plain and simply failed. But that is no reason to say that we can’t promote our products in such a way (albeit in a better worded way). That is tantamount to censorship by peer pressure and I refuse to accept censorship in any form. I see too much of that in Malaysian media and politics already as it is.
http://envb.sapphirewillow.com/writings feicipet

Oh, BTW, I do think though, that those 2 Asian babes supporting MOL payments are rather suspicious. It just doesn’t add up and yes, it’s probable that they’re hired or dummy accounts. If that could be proven, it’s certainly an abhorrent act. Say whatever you want online just as you would in real life, but never ever hide your identity. That’s just fucked up.

Anonymous

Well , as you can see sooner or later Friendster will be history…hehe

http://twitter.com/runningandrew Andrew

Is friendster still active in the first place? I dont even check there nowadays tho my account is there

World Traveller

Cooky CEO..
http://twitter.com/DestbrandKL2010 Destination Branding

A classic SocMe situation. The response wasn’t thought through enough before posting. Issues like this should be addressed in draft form and then shared for internal feedback, left alone and then reviewed again before hitting the send button.

SocMe is dynamic but a well thought out response is still needed & appreciated. As we can see!
http://twitter.com/brandconsultant Marcus Osborne

A classic SocMe situation. The response wasn’t thought through enough before posting. Issues like this should be addressed in draft form and then shared for internal feedback, left alone and then reviewed again before hitting the send button.SocMe is dynamic but a well thought out response is still needed & appreciated. As we can see!

http://www.nikicheong.com Niki Cheong

One of the wonders of social media is in its immediacy. Many companies have been lambasted for taking time to respond to a certain issue. While I agree that issues need to be thought out before responding, I don’t know if drafting and then going for internal feedback and then left alone and reviewed again is the answer.

Unless of course procedures are in place to make sure all this can happen in a short period of time. Which begs the question of whether corporations are willing to invest in resources to deal with social media.

But on a separate note, with this case in particular, I think it was plain stupidity for him to respond that way. Taking “trolling” aside, as a CEO of a company, you shouldn’t be making that kind of comments – whether it’s on your competitiors FB page, or at a talk, or anywhere public.

Drsampta

I think he was talking more about MOL.Its his right,since he is the CEO of MOL.

http://twitter.com/runningandrew Andrew

He came in and posted “buy from MOL better”

Well done for a CEO. And he is saying that this is the power of social media. Seriously, i doubt he even gave a thought about what he was gonna post.

Drsampta

I am sure he thinks before he talks.

MOL_sux

“Embracing social media” doesn’t mean that you have to be an a$$hole while doing it. He might be the CEO of a public listed company, but he sure could use some manners.

Drsampta

But i know him since childhood,and he is a very well mannered person.

feicipet

“If a response is absolutely necessary, always plan in advance and post a full, official statement on your own website, not in the competitor’s web properties.”Honestly, this is a double-edged sword. If a company stays within the official boundaries and keeps away from the grassroots level (which is basically something that social networks allows you to do), somebody's bound to say they're uppity and stand-offish. The trick is to basically balance customer's perception of your social behavior. The MOL CEO definitely was at a disadvantage due to the fact that he's perceived as Big Corp everybody loves to hate while OffGamers is the underdog everybody's rooting for. If it was between 2 companies on equal footing, I doubt the blowback would be as harsh.
lankapo

Well , as you can see sooner or later Friendster will be history…hehe
World Traveller

Cooky CEO..
http://buzzmedia.com.my/ David Wang

That's a good point, although I meant an “official response”. However, even between companies that are equal, one should never post snide remarks.
http://twitter.com/DestbrandKL2010 Destination Branding

A classic SocMe situation. The response wasn't thought through enough before posting. Issues like this should be addressed in draft form and then shared for internal feedback, left alone and then reviewed again before hitting the send button.SocMe is dynamic but a well thought out response is still needed & appreciated. As we can see!
http://twitter.com/brandconsultant Marcus Osborne

A classic SocMe situation. The response wasn't thought through enough before posting. Issues like this should be addressed in draft form and then shared for internal feedback, left alone and then reviewed again before hitting the send button.SocMe is dynamic but a well thought out response is still needed & appreciated. As we can see!
biresh

Its social media, not a sword. There are ethics and what he did was spam and insult. No one does that in the real world, its akin to going to another shop and telling the customers that that shop sucks. They would be thrown out at minimum.Its the same thing here, you wouldn't want people to come to your house and insult you would you?
http://twitter.com/runningandrew Andrew

Is friendster still active in the first place? I dont even check there nowadays tho my account is there
http://twitter.com/runningandrew Andrew

He came in and posted “buy from MOL better”Well done for a CEO. And he is saying that this is the power of social media. Seriously, i doubt he even gave a thought about what he was gonna post.
http://twitter.com/runningandrew Andrew

As a CEO, he shouldn't even be posting in that manner in the first place right? And he tried to cover his mistake by saying “embracing social media”.
http://www.nikicheong.com/blog Niki Cheong

One of the wonders of social media is in its immediacy. Many companies have been lambasted for taking time to respond to a certain issue. While I agree that issues need to be thought out before responding, I don't know if drafting and then going for internal feedback and then left alone and reviewed again is the answer.Unless of course procedures are in place to make sure all this can happen in a short period of time. Which begs the question of whether corporations are willing to invest in resources to deal with social media.But on a separate note, with this case in particular, I think it was plain stupidity for him to respond that way. Taking “trolling” aside, as a CEO of a company, you shouldn't be making that kind of comments – whether it's on your competitiors FB page, or at a talk, or anywhere public.
MOL_sux

“Embracing social media” doesn't mean that you have to be an a$$hole while doing it. He might be the CEO of a public listed company, but he sure could use some manners.
Ryanzlew

Anyone trying to go into the social media business had better think twice. If you have no desire to be the best, perish the thought. You are as good as lost, if you are the 2nd best.
feicipet

The parable is wrong. You wouldn't let just anybody in your house, no? It's a Facebook page, not their company website/blog with moderated comments. Any of my FB friends can post on my wall as long as I allow them to. And when I allow them to (my decision), can I complain if they post up something I don't like? Nope. Too bad, so sad.So basically, no it's not Offgamers' house, it's a public square that they set up a booth at. So let's talk about the ethics of this, since that's what most of the naysayers are talking about. I can point out a whole number of similar practices that somehow are accepted as a business norm:1) Take a look at any Linux focused website with ads. There will be a high chance that the ads are Microsoft ads and they're a competitor. Unethical? It's just simple competition and placing the ads where the target market is.2) The details are blurry, but I remember when BMW won some sort of award, Mercedes put out full page advertisements all over congratulating them on their first award for something Mercedes had won for the past 10 years running (again, details are sketchy, it's just something along those lines). Again, unethical? Most of use had a good laugh at it and left it at that.And then let's talk about the “insult”. I assume that's the comment about “any intelligent person”, yes? Well, I'd point you to DiGi's “Always the smarter choice” slogan. Do I hear Maxis and Celcom users up in arms and say “what, I'm not smart enough for ya?”. Oh, but maybe some of the naysayers would retort saying “DiGi's is an advertisement! That's different!”, to which I'd say, if they're willing to apply different standards to reality and ads, then they fully deserve those ridiculous KFC menu pictures where the food is at least twice the size of what we get in real life. There's no denying that this Ganesh dude failed to achieve what he wanted, which was simply to point out that he felt his offering was better. His choice of words turned off too many of the people reading the thread and he plain and simply failed. But that is no reason to say that we can't promote our products in such a way (albeit in a better worded way). That is tantamount to censorship by peer pressure and I refuse to accept censorship in any form. I see too much of that in Malaysian media and politics already as it is.
http://envb.sapphirewillow.com/writings/ feicipet

Oh, BTW, I do think though, that those 2 Asian babes supporting MOL payments are rather suspicious. It just doesn't add up and yes, it's probable that they're hired or dummy accounts. If that could be proven, it's certainly an abhorrent act. Say whatever you want online just as you would in real life, but never ever hide your identity. That's just fucked up.
Ryanzlew

Anyone trying to go into the social media business had better think twice. If you have no desire to be the best, perish the thought. You are as good as lost, if you are the 2nd best.
Drsampta

But i know him since childhood,and he is a very well mannered person.
Drsampta

I am sure he thinks before he talks.
Drsampta

I think he was talking more about MOL.Its his right,since he is the CEO of MOL.
Drsammy boy

Ganesh is definitely right,thats why he is a CEO of MOL and u r not.
Ganesh Kuman Bangala

And MOL is definitely better, as Ganesh is their CEO. Deal with it.
Dzack

hahahaha…ok Drsampta…let me guess you are in employee at MOL??? Pretty obvious that you are based off of your numerous posts….FAIL
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bot

FAIL indeed. This is beyond pathetic.
Sendyadhika

please anyone can help to report this man to Police on behalf my wife’s MOL CARD is not function since bought. I asked more than 3 weeks and it has only 2 replied by customer service of MOL without any solution to solve.

So now I want to report this but i don’t know how to do? Please refer me only straight to the address and name who I have to contact with.

Thank you
Sendyadhika

please anyone can help to report this man to Police on behalf my wife’s MOL CARD is not function since bought. I asked more than 3 weeks and it has only 2 replied by customer service of MOL without any solution to solve.

So now I want to report this but i don’t know how to do? Please refer me only straight to the address and name who I have to contact with.

Thank you
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Ham

Can I say something? Ganesh said what was on his mind. Too bad if all of you have to get your knickers in a twist. There’s nothing wrong about being honest in social media. On hindsight you guys had an exchange, so? Get on with life… Al;l this sounds like Ganesh bashing to me…..
Ham

Can I say something? Ganesh said what was on his mind. Too bad if all of you have to get your knickers in a twist. There’s nothing wrong about being honest in social media. On hindsight you guys had an exchange, so? Get on with life… Al;l this sounds like Ganesh bashing to me…..
line

why bother…even this blog seems bias towards offgamers.
Ganesh cant even be himself in social media?