Nowadays, a social media presence is a necessity for any business, but that doesn’t mean they’re all experts at managing one yet. Following corporate accounts online can often feel similar to following your grandparents. They don’t always understand the trends and current slang, and they seem to often post things without proofreading.

That’s why groups like the Corporate Facepalm subreddit are so entertaining. This community states that it’s “for all the ridiculous things your company does” and features plenty of “silly social media mishaps from large companies.” And clearly, many people enjoy shaming corporations online, as this group has amassed an impressive 160k members since its creation in 2015.  

Corporate Facepalm was created 8 years ago, so the idea of companies being bad at using the internet is certainly not new. Yet for some reason, many of them seem to have improved very little over the years. In 2018, the BBC shared an article featuring some of the worst fails companies have had online, citing that the UK pub chain Wetherspoons actually decided to shut down their social media altogether, as it was a “distraction” for its staff.

Microsoft also had their own unfortunate incident after they created a chatbot for Twitter in 2016, named Tay, that was curated for 18 to 24-year-olds online. Things quickly took a turn, however, when Tay began tweeting racist and anti-semitic views. It took less than 24 hours for Tay to be deactivated.   

According to Lyndsay Menzies, chief executive of digital marketing agency 8 Million Stories, one of the things companies should keep in mind when building their online presence is having a consistent brand personality across all platforms. "One of the things that annoys people is the different types of voice companies have in different areas," she told the BBC. 

They also have to remember that social media sites are created for individuals in mind, not businesses, so they might have to get creative with making sure their content is attractive to their customer base.

Navigating the complex world of social media can be difficult for anyone, let alone an entire company. I would struggle if I was tasked with making a YouTube video, and nothing makes me feel older than hearing about TikTok trends months after they’ve passed, since I don’t have the app myself. But if they can find a way to succeed on these platforms, social media can be an extremely valuable tool for companies. 

When it comes to the pros of using social media, Commercient explains that there are relatively low marketing costs; you can easily increase brand awareness and sales; website traffic will likely be increased, as well as rankings on search engines; it allows companies the opportunity to build relationships with customers; it allows an opportunity to conduct market research about customers; and it’s an easy way to improve networking.

On the other hand, however, there are obviously risks associated with companies (or anyone for that matter) having an online presence. There’s a chance the company with find itself with bad publicity; they may need additional resources/new hires to manage the social media accounts; social media requires regular monitoring; it will be a waste of time if it’s not actually adding any value to the business; there’s a risk of unwanted or inappropriate attention from trolls; and it can create an increased risk of being hacked or having sensitive information leaked.  

Another potential downside of having a social media presence is that customers will often use these platforms to complain about their experiences with companies. Similarly to writing reviews, I’m not often inspired to boast about a great flight that I had on X. But if I have a horrible experience with delays or cancellations at the last minute, I will be a bit more likely to @ the company online. This can be useful if they’ll actually help customers out, but when there’s nothing the social media marketing team can do about real-life issues, it can backfire. 

Being a human is inherently embarrassing at times, so it’s likely that many of us can relate to accidentally posting a hilarious typo or sharing something that we probably should have kept to ourselves. But when you’re at work and trying to market a specific brand, it’s important to be a bit more careful about what you post. Or don’t! The rest of us will just have a field day mocking you about it for years to come!