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January 18th, 2010

I’ve been “outed” by social media.

Outed

It’s no big news that folks are getting more savvy to monitoring their brands on social media. Even the little guys.

On a recent food-binge Sunday (Metro, The Mission, Caffe Boa, Classic Italian, Caffe Boa again,) we chose Classic Italian Pizza for dinner. As usual, I checked in via Brightkite (which updates both my Twitter and Facebook statuses.) I happily tweeted praises and photos of our perfect pies.

Halfway through the meal, a young waitress stops by our table and asks, “Which one of you is Ty?”

I sulk in my seat and slowly raise my hand.

She smiles and explains that the owner was monitoring my activity from home. He called and asked her to find out who I was. Yikes!

Another example: This past weekend, I was downtown at Hanny’s during another binge night (Hanny’s, The District, and St. Francis.) I checked in with Brightkite and ordered a classic Sidecar.

The drink earned my signature and dreaded “Cocktail Abortion” tweet (too much Cointreau turned it into a froo froo sweetsie drink.) It’s a nasty tweet, I know.

Disclaimer: Here’s where I speculate… but my observations were confirmed by my cocktailing friend.

A few minutes after the tweet, we saw the server and bar staff pointing our direction and talking. Sure enough, the server appears minutes later with two new cocktails for us.

His explanation was awkward as he nervously set down the glasses. He claimed that the bar mistakenly made extra drinks of our exact order. No charge.

We thanked him and he walked back to join the bar staff as they watched us drink the reattempted offerings.

Coincidence? Or maybe I was just over-sensitive from my recent “outing” at Classic Italian. I’ll never know because I didn’t ask. I was pretty freaked.

Regardless, I’ve prepared myself for future incidents resulting from my public eating & tweeting. I’ll be ready to stand by my comments. I’m sure as hell not a journalist, but it’s probably a good idea for me to establish ethics and rules of engagement with businesses, owners, etc.

I’ll be ready next time. Bring it on.

Do you have a similar story?

P.S. Jay W., I know you stalk me too. :-)

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This entry was posted on Monday, January 18th, 2010 at 2:00 pm and is filed under Cocktail Hour, Crazy Stories, Reviews & Dish. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

  • Brenda

    Very interesting experience. I share some of your qualms about how easily we are tracked as we post on social network sites, although it could just be that YOU are solidly on the radar of Phoenix metro eateries due to your business success and to your reputation for restaurant/bar hopping. It's amazing, though, how quickly you were zeroed in on. I applaud your attention to “ethics and rules of engagement.” But just as I'm saying that, I'm envying your possibilities for some serious comping. ;-)

  • meleyna

    I peeked in the window at FnB looking for you Thursday night while on my way to Kaz. Creepy stalker, what? ;)

  • http://twitter.com/R_Glass Ryan Glass

    Ha, that's a good story. I frequently tweet comments about places I go, (Probably in hopes to become “cool” with the workers/owner like @vettieroe does), but I've never been “outed”. I'd think it was pretty cool if people figured out it was me.

  • Pingback: Tweets that mention I’ve been “outed” by social media. | JuxtaPalate -- Topsy.com

  • http://www.CowboyCiao.com/ Marianne Belardi

    Intriguing, hot topic Ty! Ideally more SM savvy = improved service. A simple check back could have been the prophylactic for your “nasty tweet.” Your facial expressions, body language, observing you converse with your table mate; all these could have cued an approach to ask if the bar could remake the cocktail –before your thumbs had moved a millimeter. It's no secret most guests don't complain, for myriad reasons. Remember the timeless essay about “the worst customer?”

    Technology and SM help mitigate that entrepreneurial sand trap, with less-vocal guests often e-mailing constructive feedback or posting in (relatively) anonymous SM arenas where businesses can respond. Last year I replied to a Chowhound post, choosing my words carefully to respect CH's strict guidelines. CH deleted it anyway but, Google reader caught it, guest contacted me, happy ending. In my PR dreams all CH'ers would have known the outcome, but most importantly, the individual received an apology and amends.

    As a consumer, I value a review or blog post celebrating how an à la minute complaint was resolved tout de suite, ideally with tact and humor (quel coincidence, those are also ideal for framing complaints). I'm inspired to patronize a business that listens and takes steps to correct.

    While transparency might have some benefits, you are wise to guard your integrity and credibility on those slippery slopes. Might want to scope out a swillin' sombrero or foodie Fedora on the next trip to Goodwill. Love ya' buddy!

  • http://twitter.com/CChaseEnt Colleen Chase

    Been there, done that. Lost a biz contact due to a Yelp review. Be careful!

  • juxtapalate

    Did you see me? I was sitting with my back to the window. Stop in and say hello next time you're stalking. ;)

  • juxtapalate

    I eat & tweet so much without thinking so both instances were a bit of a surprise!

    Keep tweeting and I'll be your stalker! I surprise you with a hello someday.

    Thanks for the comment Ryan!

  • juxtapalate

    Oye. This whole public personal blogging gig has been a very daring move. The decision to publicly chat about my personal life, the restaurant industry, etc… it all could have pos/neg impact on our media/marketing business.

    But that is an upcoming post for another day….

    That one will put “hair on your chest.” HAHA!!! (good times at KazBar!)

    t

  • juxtapalate

    VERY thoughtful commentary from an industry pro and a wonderful person. Always the customer service champion. I love you.

    I too, am inspired to frequent joints that listen to all feedback on all channels. Let's just hope I don't get blacklisted anywhere.

    I'm ordering my “Binge-Eating Burka” online right now.

    Should I go with blue, or black?

  • meleyna

    Haha, unfortunately not–I was whisked away quickly by thirsty friends.

  • http://justinbeckett.com Chef Beckett

    I can recognize that hair anywhere!

  • http://justinbeckett.com Chef Beckett

    I would recognize that hair anywhere !!!

  • juxtapalate

    We should swap hairstyles. I'll shave mine, you grow yours and faux it.