JPMorgan is reportedly considering banning its employees from Wall Street chat services because of the unsavory stuff that can be said there. After Wednesday, the bank may want to steer clear of public chat areas, too.
Smarting, perhaps, from the barrage of government investigations into its activities — eight from the Department of Justice alone — JPMorgan took to Twitter on Nov. 6 to declare an upbeat “#TwitterTakeover”:
It’s a #TwitterTakeover: We'll host our 1st live Q&A on leadership & career advice w/a leading $JPM exec on 11/14. Use #AskJPM to submit a Q
— J.P. Morgan (@jpmorgan) November 6, 2013
As countless companies and political candidates have already learned, you can’t force a hashtag, and often you risk it being turned into a weapon against you. That’s what’s happened over the last few days, and especially Wednesday afternoon, with some of the public’s undiminished rancor against the big banks getting thrown back at whatever poor soul(s) staff the lender’s social media accounts. At the meme’s peak, dozens of tweets were pouring in every few minutes. Here are some choice ones that the executive in question, Vice Chairman Jimmy Lee, likely won’t be addressing:
Did you have a specific number of people's lives you needed to ruin before you considered your business model a success? #AskJPM
— Amy Hunter (@amy10506) November 13, 2013
If it came out Jamie Dimon had a propensity for eating Irish children, would you fire him? What if he's still "a good earner"? #AskJPM
— Kevin Murphy (@kcm74) November 13, 2013
Is it the ability to throw anyone out of their home that drives you, or just the satisfaction that you know you COULD do it? #AskJPM
— David Dayen (@ddayen) November 13, 2013
Did you not realize that The Smartest Guys In The Room was a cautionary tale, not a blueprint for mass theft? #AskJPM http://t.co/9ibplIy84V
— Kevin Murphy (@kcm74) November 13, 2013
Will the firm explore new markets, like selling candy-backed securities to babies w/o disclosing the lack of chocolate in the bonds? #AskJPM
— David Dayen (@ddayen) November 13, 2013
How many homeless people did you create in '08? #AskJPM
— Mathew Kagis (@OccupyMedic) November 13, 2013
IS IT A FAIR ASSUMPTION THAT YO SOCIAL MEDIA TEAM DID NOT PROPERLY PROTECT YA NECK? #AskJPM #WuWednesday
— Wu-Tang Financial (@Wu_Tang_Finance) November 13, 2013
Maybe they should have sponsored a bike program instead.
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Image: Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images
This article originally published at Businessweek here
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