This morning pub chain JD Wetherspoon took to Twitter to announce that it will be closing all social media accounts.
The firm’s head office and 900 pubs will quit Facebook, Twitter and Instagram with immediate effect.
Why would they?
The chain linked the move to bad publicity surrounding social media including the “trolling” of MPs, “misuse of personal data” and “the addictive nature of social media”.
It seems ridiculous that the firm would choose to come away from social media when the world relies on digital more than ever for news, promotions and information.
Perhaps they should look at using social as a PR tool to change opinions and create positive publicity for the chain rather than quitting.
JD Wetherspoon isn’t just missing out on an opportunity to enhance its PR strategy but it’s sacrificing a crucial marketing tool – the chain had 44,000 followers on Twitter and 100,000 Facebook likes.
It’s more vital than ever that businesses take advantage of an ever-growing social media offering. Stats from sproutsocial show that more than 60 million businesses currently have a Facebook page which says a lot about the importance of an online presence.
Chairman of the company Tim Martin and the company’s pub managers do not believe that closing the accounts will have any affect on the business “whatsoever”.
The pub chain obviously wasn’t doing it right…