The food aggregator Zomato announced the launch of a 10-minute food delivery service called ‘Zomato Instant’ on March 22. Deepinder Goyal, the founder of Zomato, took to Twitter to inform us about the new offering. Minutes after the post, the tweet went viral and faced immense backlash from netizens. Netizens criticized Zomato’s new service for the practicality of the service and said that by doing so, the company is putting the lives of its riders in danger.
Is Twitter, however, a reliable source of such disclosures from a listed company? We’re all aware of social media’s backfire nature. It will either create a positive consequence or will receive critical criticism from its consumers. Will it, however, be a proper way for a public listed company to notify such a significant decision on Twitter?
“Twitter has certainly become an impactful medium to share main events happening in a listed organization owing to Twitter’s capability to analyze information credibility. However, like any other social media platform which can reach a mass audience at once, it will always have some positive and some negative outcomes to it. The platform is built in a way that everyone has the freedom to share their opinions back and that could be in support or against the notion presented by an organization. And opinions on Twitter are formed faster than what it will take any organization to say something- Instant!,” says Kumar Setu, Co-Founder, Sprink.
“Twitter has more than 400+million users and people spend an average of at least 6-7 minutes a day gathering news and entertainment. The younger demographic, especially, prefer social media because it is a direct form of communication, accessible to anyone. It is not uncommon, nor wrong for a company to also share their crucial events via Twitter. There is no absolute right or wrong way to do this. Any company sharing such information should just remember to share the information transparently and elegantly,” observes Setu.
“It is not uncommon, nor wrong for a company to also share their crucial events via Twitter. Opinions on Twitter are formed faster than what it will take Zomato to say – instant, a match made in heaven. Instant opinion platform for instant service announcement,” he concluded.
According to Ambarish Ray – Co-Founder and CEO – of Digital Dogs Content and Media, “Twitter is a great platform for equalizing the divide and reducing the height of the stage that used to separate the so-called stars from the junta. Whether it is film stars or corporate honchos, earlier there was a great divide between these unreachable and inaccessible few and the public whose support and the money kept them where they are. The public buys tickets and makes a movie star remain a star. Similarly, the public buys the products and makes a CEO/Chairman remain in that position.”
“If the company is a listed company, it is all the more important that the leadership of that company is accessible, accountable and answerable to the public. In the case of a listed company, the public has not only purchased the products of the company but has also purchased its shares. It has every right to know of decisions as well as critique those decisions. In a democracy, the right to opinions can never be curtailed under the garb of listed entity confidentiality. This does not mean that the leadership will be running the company through public polls but the right of the public, especially as a shareholder, to voice its opinions can never be taken away. And if that leads to stock market hiccups with the price of the company’s shares then so be it. That is how a free market works,” he added.
“The world we are living in today is driven by perception and transparent media. Nothing is hidden for a company, be it policy, brand image, people you hire and work with. Social media made it public for everything whereas social media platforms like Twitter allows you to make things reachable to the masses, unlike traditional media. In some way, you can say what you want to say without getting twisted by media opinions. Also, Twitter never allows you to edit the post, either you delete it or keep the words that you have said. Similar to traditional media where everything is public, once said can’t be taken back,” said Dileep Seinberg, Founder & CEO – MuffinPay, SmileCrypto & Thinkchain
“Even today’s media is accessing business, brand and public personalities on their social media platform, be it Elon Musk tweets or company new launch events. Although sometimes it is better to have freedom than banning selective content on such platforms,” Seinberg added.
Garv Malik, Chief Meme Officer, Slice said, “Twitter is a medium that all companies, listed or otherwise, should use. Announcing major changes on Twitter allows founders to take feedback from people, something that cannot happen through a newspaper ad.”
“However, it is essential for founders to do a more formal press release and an email to investors after incorporating feedback from Twitter, to ensure that it reaches everyone. A Twitter post doesn’t guarantee to reach everyone who follows an account. Hence the delivery of the message is not exhaustive. Also, not all people are on Twitter, hence having an account should not be a necessity to access information about a company,” he concluded.
