Social Media Flushes TfL Employee Down the Tube
Today I experienced a phenomenon that erased any doubt I may have had about the power of social media. I usually come across several blog posts and am on twitter throughout the day. This morning, I stumbled across a post about an unruly London Underground employee who got into a verbal altercation with an elderly passenger and ended up losing his cool, to say the least. The blogger, Jonathan MacDonald, who was present, managed to film the end of the ordeal, revealing the tube employee’s (Ian Morbin) ridiculous behaviour. I found it particularly shocking because the office I work at is located right next to Holborn station, and I circulated it around to my colleagues. The comments and insults then ensued throughout the day. But what was happening throughout our office: the collecting of commentary, more information about the incident and more about Ian himself, was happening simultaneously online.
By 3pm the YouTube video was circulating around the internet, there was a huge Twitter buzz about it (including Tweets from the Mayor himself), Ian’s Facebook profile had been indentified, and the story had made all or most of the major news sites. The biggest foul of the incident was when Ian suggested that the elderly passenger, who had just had his arm caught in the door of a tube car, should be slung under a train. The Telegraph headlined, “A Transport for London employee has been caught on camera saying that an elderly man who became trapped in a Tube carriage door deserved to be slung under a train.” Then, BBC lunchtime news picked it up and aired the video on TV. It is safe to say that by the time you are reading this post, thousands of people nationwide are loathing an unemployed Ian Morbin.
This incident is a perfect example of the power of social media, especially when it comes to reputation and public opinion. Not only does this whole ordeal look horrible for Ian Morbin, but it taints the reputation of the London Underground and the TfL. Nick Burcher also highlighted this events embodiment of people power and citizen journalism, noting that the original, “blog post and accompanying video have been linked to, discussed and retweeted across the internet – so much so that ‘Holborn’ became a Trending Topic on Twitter.” What can be drawn from this that social media has given everyone a voice and its connectivity allows for even the softest voice to be heard nationally, if not globally. It also highlights the growing importance of social media monitoring tools and services. If TfL had caught this story yesterday when it was written, they may have been able to rectify the situation sooner or mitigate the publicity and in turn negative PR. One thing is certain; an example has been made of Ian Morbin by the power of social media.
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