Seattle's Restaurant Social Media...

...doesn't have to rhyme with “Diarrhea”

Wow, imagine if you just joined Social Media and the excitement was flowing about the wonders you'd find out about dining in Seattle.

After all, I've long believed the internet should be a place to learn about new things and provide the user with an enriching experience.

In moderation…

So imagine being a newbie setting up a Twitter account and subscribing to all the big names around town including restaurants, editors, foodies and otherwise.

Twitter says in your welcome email - 'By building a timeline that reflects you and your interests, you'll see how quickly Twitter becomes an invaluable part of your life.'

You give the little blue bird a tap, the whole picture flies into your app and all of a sudden you start to think to yourself – ‘this isn't exactly what I expected.'

Take for instance these scenarios:

Someone inside The Tom Douglas Company has digital diarrhea

We like Tom. We've always admired him as a local leader, a good businessman and a nice person all the way around. So, who inside the Tom Douglas Company is making a mess in the social media kitchen?

20 tweets and re-tweets in a single 24 hour period. Really? Does your employer truly support this excess? Ever since the invention of the internet, no one has ever gotten more time in their lives.

This TDC retweet out of left field has nothing to do with dining at any TDC locations and won't enrich anyone's life from a food point of view. Whoever you are, perhaps what you need is a personal Twitter account.

Post up quality photos, or don't post

Oh - is it? Looks more like the view off the Titanic - ship's time 23:39.

As one trolls through the tweets, it becomes clear that while everyone has a camera, few can shoot good photographs. Why would a class act restaurant want to post up something like this? What good is it for their business and how much further will it take them down the road of success?

Passing along some great deals...

Thanks SFM for that RT from Babeland. Nice to know I can combine my food and sex toy shopping all in one trip and save some money, too.

If you don't have any great deals of your own, pass along another's...right?

Last tweet was over two years ago

And the funny thing is they're still doing great business. You think this social media thing is financially what it's all cracked up to be? For those of you following the stock market, check the Price/Earnings ratio on Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), then take a pill. My guess - the Twitter IPO will look about the same 12 months from now.

Your reservation is now public

Canlis. Really…? This is brilliance at its finest. Tweeting customers' reservations. So much for privacy... Can I opt out on that? (Note to future ex-wife - I know I said I was going to the gym, but...)

Speaking of going public

If you're a high profile person in the business, it's a good idea to have a separate business account from your personal account. That way followers won't be inundated with one's personal life.

Your website is crashing my browser

Confidential to Seattle's Best Restaurants - One would think in this day and age people could write proper code. Crash my browser once and I'm never going back to your site.

The reality is not only does SBR crash the browser here (IE10), but there are a number of well-read publications in this market that are so snoopy when you log on, it's getting to be the same scenario.

Speaking of digital diarrhea???

Wow. Someone has some time on their hands… Like a rat on the social media treadmill. A good workout indeed.

So there you have it. The face of the Seattle Restaurant Social Media Scene. Embarrassing, isn't it?

TM/Fall 2013