When Twitter Attacks: ExxonMobil’s “Janet” Turns Out to Have No Connection to Company

I admit it, I got fooled too.

Jeremiah Owyang is a well known Twitterer and analyst at Forrester who wrote a post about ExxonMobil’s newly created Twitter account @ExxonMobilCorp (it’s since been taken down), run by “Janet”. He said:

Next to join the fray is Exxon Mobil, announced in their first tweet as: “Janet, one of a few Community Evangelist at ExxonMobil Corp”. The responses are mixed, but some asking the tough questions as they react, test, and push Exxon to see how they’ll respond.

Immediately, Janet walks into a firestorm, publishing this rebuttal tweet over the Valdez spill: “@1WineDude, did you know that the Valdez spill wasn’t even one of the top 10 worst spills in history? Like the Nowruz Oil Field spill in ‘80“, a few in the community responded with bitterness, read the search results.

It turns out “Janet” has no connection with ExxonMobil. Silicon Alley Insider quotes the Houston Chronicle:

“That’s not us,” said Alan Jeffers, spokesman for Exxon Mobil.

“Janet” isn’t part of Exxon’s public relations machinery — the company said it has no idea who she is and wasn’t aware of her until the Chronicle called to ask.

Janet got me too. She followed my Twitter account but I didn’t reciprocate so I missed her defense of the Valdez spill. Doh!

Big Kudos to whoever “Janet” is for a great green hacktivsm. Pure Awesome. I’d love to see more of this. “Clean Coal” seems prime for some social media PR hackery. Just sayin’…