Did Twitter topple Toyota?

That’s the big question asked by this analysis from Slate, pointing out how the incredible increase in information velocity enabled by social media can have devastating consequences for a company that doesn’t take immediate — and well-received — steps to deal with negative news (or even the mere perception of negatives).

There’s one lesson for this that every B2B marketer should clearly take under advisement: even if a company doesn’t engage in proactive social media practices, it needs to have at least a workable understanding of the social media landscape as a contingency against situations like this.  Social media is becoming increasingly relevant and important to all B2B marketers, large and small, global to local, across all kinds of categories.  Without a grasp of how social media operates, or without the services of a good social media consultant, a firm is wearing blinders in an era when every message has the potential to become a meme, and to proliferate without regard for the facts.

In an age of social media, it’s fatal to even faintly appear antisocial.

(Thanks to my colleague Marc Lefton, of Adholes and Half Fiction in NYC, for bringing this article to our attention!)