Over the last few days I have noticed a sudden and strange behavior on Toyota's Twitter account. There was a huge influx of uber positive re-tweets from other Toyota fans on Twitter. There is nothing wrong with re-tweets (RT's) per say but like most tools in your toolbox understanding how and when to use them is key and from what I could see Toyota did not understand the tool at all.

The subject matter was regarding the quality of Toyota vehicles from point of view of Toyota owners. That in its self is not an issue but the shear volume of RT's on the subject was quite large and it made more of an impression of a "See we are ok and so and so even says we are..." kind of approach. Tweets like this from @Benne420 "@Toyota as a teen driver, I still get amazing gas mileage out of my 02 Camry LE. I love my car!", from @OmarHenry "@Toyota is still the best cars around! a guy at my gym still drives a 1980's toyota with the original engine! dont believe the hype...." and from @FireCat_7 "@Toyota my first car is a 1998 Toyota Camry LE. I LOVE IT and I love Toyota. Much love guys. Keep the good work up :)" were the norm in yesterday's tweets. That is really a very guttural and unsophisticated old fashioned PR approach. Like talking really loud with your hands over your ears "LA LA LA I CAN'T HEAR YOU".

Anyone that knows me knows that I simply can't stand over use of passive self flatulence on social media sites and this was clearly one of those instances. The tactic of re-tweeting praise from other users is really no different than making the statement yourself. Who are we trying to kid here? I don't care what any social media guru tells you or your company. Be careful on that tactic because as the public become acclimatized to the vernacular of social media marketing so will they see through the thin veneer of that type prolific of re-tweeting. It's lazy social media to flood your stream with.

The tweets felt somewhat desperate and like the usual person responsible for the Twitter account had suddenly been yanked from their duties and a desperate Sr. manager with orders in hand to "DO SOMETHING' was now at the helm. The strategy veered off coarse and felt like there was a sticky accelerator on the RT button.

What should Toyota be doing? They should stay the course of the original strategy by helping the thousands of Toyota drivers out of this mess, through helpful links on how to get there cars fixed quickly, and demonstrating what the company is doing to rectify the matter and to restore confidence in the brand.

When someone is stuck at the bottom of a well that you pushed them down, get a rope and help them out. Don't stand there and tell them that everyone else you pushed was able to avoide the well all together. The whole feed in recent days is nothing but bogus PR fluff. Between the massive recalls and the congressional hearings that begin today it would be better use of social media to take this head on as apposed to head in the sand as they are continuing to do today.

Photo credit emrank