Bed bugs, face-to-face Twitter, and Oreo cookies

Siren Communications looks back at a week in the bizarre world of social media. Are you ready…

A hotel in Quebec has launched a lawsuit against a customer who wrote a bad review on TripAdvisor, claiming that he was bitten by bed bugs during his stay, after he refused to take it down. The Canadian Laurent Azoulay hotel is taking the customer to court later this year and is allegedly seeking around £60,000 worth of damages. The news has sparked debate between industry experts and lawyers have advised TripAdvisor users to always take photographs to accompany negative hotel reviews to back them up.

With social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter generally banned in China, many visitors to luxury hotels in the country have been surprised to find that they can access the sites. Hotels such as the Grand Hyatt and Park Hyatt in Shanghai have moved their servers to Hong Kong to allow their international guests to keep their friends, family and followers up-to-date with their travels.

A man in Glasgow has taken Twitter to a whole new ‘social’ level by setting himself the challenge to meet his followers in person. Declan Dineen has since set the limit to 150 – "the Dunbar number – the suggested limit to the number of people with whom one can maintain stable social relationships". The 32-year-old is documenting his challenge on his blog and since January this year has managed 141 of the 150 meets – a mix of physical face-to-face meetings and skype calls with international followers.

Mondelez, the American multinational confectionery, food and beverage conglomerate (and makers of the oh so delicious Oreo cookie) made news this week by signing a marketing deal that will see Twitter staff based at the candy-owner’s global offices, including in the UK, Brazil, India and the US.
The deal, which reportedly offers Mondelez preferential ad rates, and gives it access to custom research and "brand boot camps" will see Twitter teams embedded at its various locations to enable local marketers to make the most of Twitter as a marketing tool.

Australia’s 1888 hotel has been designed to please Instagram fans in every way, the d-©cor aims to be as photographically appealing as possible and includes exposed brick walls, polished concrete and iron bark beams. Hotel 1888 is the perfect choice for Instragram users especially as those with more than 10,000 followers can stay at the boutique hotel for free. Let’s get Instagraming!

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