Micro-blogging platform Twitter is awesome if you're looking to waste, oh.... 7 hours online. But it turns out to be useful for doing impromptu studies of consumer perceptions, as the UK's social media monitoring company Brandwatch has come to know. They sifted through tweets containing the hashtag #fail to discover what consumer brand was most linked to that internet-famous one-word criticism. So who you you think it is? The answer is under the jump.
It's Apple!
Over the past month, Apple was mentioned next to the #fail hashtag in 1204 tweets.
While many complained about the brand as a whole, several criticized specific products, like the iPad and the notoriously flawed iPhone 4.
What other brands made the list? UK-based Brandwatch declares Facebook, Nokia and the BBC as runners up. They also made a point to mention that communications brands are the most criticized by consumers on the web.
What do you think readers? What are your votes for #fail brands? Comcast? Time Warner? AT&T? Tell us in the comments!
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In what universe does a preponderance of #fail hashtags equal a hated brand?
#fail
i like apple products alot. i hate apple fanatics and apple apologists.
More love...less hate.
@ansela your theory that apple draws negative opinion because of their success is valid, but this goes much further than that.
Apple has had haters long before the iPod, the iMac, or steve jobs' return. I think it's engrained in computer users minds as an inferior product since the introduction of windows 95, when apple had relatively no presence in the industry. Their success now infuriates these same people - i remember getting into an argument with a guy who worked at compusa in 2002. He insisted that apple would be bankrupt by the end of the year. That's the kind mindset that drives people to read engadget and comment on how every new product will be the end of the company. Some people can't let go of the past.
@Ansela
hello fellow unplggd reader.
I am a mechanical engineering student and fan of all things tech. I like what apple has done for the moble device industry and i think the design of their newest take on the cell phone, the iPhone 4, is a beautifull piece of design. I also realize that part of design is not asthetic but function for intended use. Arguing that the iPhone 4 is not notoriously flawed is to argue that the iPhone 4 is not ment to be used as a phone. A phone (such as the iPhone 4) that does not function as a phone when held as a typical person holds a phone, is a flawed product, no if ands or buts.
I will agree with you that the theory behind this article is flawed and counting #fail's asssociated with a brand name somehow equals hated is a mis interpretation of many twitter posts.
also, i can drop my nokia flip phone onto pavement form 3' 100 times and still pick it up and make a phone call. I wager that you could not drop you iPhone 4 10 times without rendering it useless.
Even if everyone who used the #fail tag "hated" the brand, twitter users (and ones who use the #fail tag in particular) are hardly a representative sample of tech consumers.
Even if everyone who used the #fail tag "hated" the brand, twitter users (and ones who use the #fail tag in particular) are hardly a representative sample of tech consumers.
Exactly, especially for such a small sample, and does that account for the same people posting stuff over and over again, or people RT'ing the original comment? 1204 out of millions isn't a very good sample at all. I would take it with a grain of salt--it seems like Brandwatch (and possibly AT?) was looking for a filler story, and wanted to stir it up, knowing that any story about apple is going to be controversial and get people talking.
Frankly, it's getting old. I have apple everything because I like apple--but it's not perfect (by far) and it's not horrible, either. The whole apple vs. Microsoft/whatever debate is boring and futile imo.
Public perception is not a result of performance in a vacuum. Perception is a result of performance based on expectations.
Do people expect the same from Apple as they do from other tech companies? If Apple's held to a higher standard, it's not surprising that they get more flack when they fail to meet that higher standard. When a new virus/worm/trojan for OS X is discovered, how often does it make the news? How about for Windows? Crashes, virii, and such troubles in the Windows world are accepted as an expected part of the experience. Such issues on OS X are ripped apart by the media as well as Apple's own demanding users.
I would be surprised if Apple were NOT the company to attract the most criticism, simply because so much is expected of it. And I'm happy to use a platform that's held to a higher standard, even if it sometimes fails to meet it.