Exxon's brand Hijacked on Twitter by a gal named Janet

Exxon Mobil's brand 'hijacked' by impersonator on Twitter reports thestandard.com.

And unlike the Mad Men tweets (all posts linked below) this is not a fan-fiction case. Exxon hasn't approached Twitter about this problem yet, but judging by how fast Twitter removed the Mad Men people (before coming to their senses), they might be just as quick to kill off Janet. All you got to do now is ask, Exxon. Is it fan fiction when we're talking about a real company? Will be interesting to see how this one pans out.

But the user posing as "Janet" from ExxonMobil and posting what appeared to be legitimate "Tweets" is not authorized by Exxon Mobil to be posting about the company. Exxon Mobil does not know who "Janet" is or if he or she is even a company employee, Exxon Mobil spokesman Alan Jeffers said Monday.

"She is not an authorized person to speak on behalf of the company," he said. "There are several inaccuracies (on Twitter). We take great care in having authorized people speak on behalf of the company. We want to make sure anyone who is speaking for the company is doing so accurately."

At the end of the article, Shel Holtz, principal of Holtz Communication + Technology, gives out some free advice:

"Any company should be acquiring the Twitter account names that are most likely to be construed as official accounts," he noted. "Far too many organizations shrug off emerging social media channels like Twitter and Friendfeed. The Janet incident should make it painfully clear just how easy it is for somebody to step in and represent your organization with inaccurate and even damaging information using these very channels."