The Kilroy Bar media case (links below) is a wild one from the start. It is one of many incidents that are becoming all too common due to the expanding platform that is social media. There are many issues within this case. The first is the increase of businesses now using social media to promote their business. While a great idea for PR reasons, having a public social media account for one’s business is entering a whole new realm of communication with the public. As the IndyStar article pointed out, the Internet is still young and has yet to lay down a list of rules of engagement. Because of the anonymity that social media provides, people often are much more aggressive online than they ever would be face-to-face. When a platform is offered to voice their unsolicited opinions on, there’s a good chance that issues are going to arise. The rules of how a business and a customer are supposed to communicate over social media have not been set.
I do believe, however, that the manager was justified in his now dubbed, “scathing response.” The unhappy customer who made the post on the Kilroy Bar FB page was out of line. This whole situation could have been easily avoided in a multitude of ways. It is hard for me to fathom feeling so entitled that you can only think about yourself and the outcome of your NYE party when there is someone in need of desperate medical attention a few feet from you. The way in which the customer conducted herself is a prime example of the type of people who have the “it’s all about me” mentality; the people who are in need of a serious reality check. The last time I checked, the world does not revolve around a singular person and the sanctity of their night out. For example, she stated that “The manager also told us someone dying was more important than us being there making us feel like our business didn't matter, but I guess allowing a Junkie in the building to overdose on your property is more important than paying customers who are spending a lot of money!!!” Even though the supposed ‘Junkie” turned out to be an elderly woman who went into cardiac arrest while having dinner with her husband and son, it should not matter either way. A life is a life. Her lack of compassion for human life is disturbing.
As I was reading through other articles on the incident, I also became aware of the fact that many other Facebook users have created a mob mentality surrounding the event. She was forced to deactivate her FB account due to how many harassing messages she was being sent. NYDailyNews.com reported that another, unrelated woman who happened to share the same name, was also receiving death threats. Eventually, people began to track down where the unhappy customer worked and demanded that they fire their employee for her actions. Serenity Salon later posted that, “This was the actions of one person and does not reflect our views or code of conduct. We will be personally taking this matter into our own hands and ensuring the right course of action is followed.” Another article, DailyNews.com reported that the woman has since lost her job because of the incident.
This has officially gone too far. While the manager was right to reprimand her for her poor behavior, death threats and loss of employment is going overboard. I would like to know more information about how the management at Kilroy’s Bar is managing the negative reaction to this woman. I was disappointed in the violently negative reaction of others. Legally speaking, anyone sending death threats could be prosecuted for harassment. Ethically speaking, the whoever sent the woman the messages are no better than her; they lowered themselves down to her level. The incident should have stopped after the manager made that comment; what continued was only detrimental to the whole situation and everyone involved.
My personal belief is that if you are going to engage with others across social media platforms, you have a fiduciary responsibility to be civil and mature. I encourage people to express their opinions and give feedback, however, there is a right and wrong way to go about it. Knowing the right time and place to post your beliefs is imperative. How you go about doing so is equally important. Another thing to take away from this is learning to treat people who work in the service industry with more respect. I have heard countless horror stories from my friends who work in retail. Everyone in the world could use a healthy dose of compassion towards others. While times are changing and fads come and go, being a good person will always be in style. The Golden Rule will always apply.
Sources:
Boroff, D. (2016, January 8). Woman who threw fit while patron had heart attack out of job. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/woman-threw-fit-patron-heart-attack-job-article-1.2489904
Dailymail.com, W. R. (2016, January 04). EXCLUSIVE: The hairdresser who posted a rant about a diner ruining her New Year's Eve meal by having a HEART ATTACK http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3383021/The-manager-told-dying-important-Cold-hearted-bar-customer-goes-rant-saying-New-Year-s-Eve-ruined-woman-having-HEART-ATTACK.html
Mazza, E. (2016, January 4). Indianapolis Diner Complains Her Meal Was 'Ruined' By Heart Attack Victim. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/kilroys-heart-attack-response_us_568b1b42e4b014efe0db7953
Loved your post and your comments. I totally agree with your opinion that people need to behave better and with maturity in their online posts. I also find it interesting that people can attack others so easily and can let themselves get caught up in harassing or threatening someone that doesn't share their same opinion.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comments! I am really just flabbergasted by how far people can take things. In fact, I remember seeing a post go viral a few weeks ago that involved a Great Harvest near Cache Valley. Apparently, someone did not have a good experience with the parking and got towed and posted a picture that was actually quite funny, but it certainly implied that Great Harvest was not doing its job. Later, he apologized and said that they were close to closing down because of it. Most of these things we would normally talk with our friends, but I don't think the implications that things can have are fully realized till after the fact. So complex!
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ReplyDeleteChristy -
ReplyDeleteI like how you put enthusiasm into your post. I, like Sherri, like your comment about people needing to behave better and add a little more maturity in online posts. Your post makes me start to think at how quick people are to get angry over small things, then I start to wonder if people got this angry over things in the past. I think because of stories such as the one from Kilroy's people are more likely to get angry more quickly and don't think before they post. I like the post!
Christy I like how you brought up the point of internet and the rules of engagement. It would be nice if others had the same mentality that we must be respectful even when we do not agree with the opposing view. I also like that you brought up the demeanor of Holly in the incident and that even if the woman would have been a junkie a life is a life. I also like how you brought up the fact that harassing her over the internet and sending her death threats is not a justifiable action to her appalling reaction to the woman having a heart attack. I also dont think she should have been fired but sadly in todays world social media can be a good thing like it has been for Kilroy's Bar but also a bad thing as for the Salonthat Holly worked in.
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