Penny's Diner in Norwalk was Hijacked by Twitter Racists

Penny’s Diner in Norwalk was Hijacked by Twitter Racists

“Your Business Has Been Hijacked” – In Norwalk, Connecticut Penny’s Diner has been serving up comfort food for 30 years. Today they are in crisis mode – because they didn’t have a handle on their twitter handle.

Here’s the story: The Treasury Department just announced that Harriet Tubman would be appearing on the new $20 bill. The internet trolls and racists responded with racism – unfortunately one of them decided to open a fake twitter account in the name of Penny’s Diner and post some really awful things

Penny's Diner in Norwalk, Hijacked by Trolls

Penny’s Diner in Norwalk, Hijacked by Trolls

It got worse from there. Retweets galore and of course folks took to Yelp to slam them as well.

pennys diner yelp critic

The owners turned to the local cops who started an investigation “The Norwalk Police Department Detective Bureau is investigating a complaint made by the owners of Penny’s Diner into fraudulent posts made to social media,” Lieutenant Terrance Blake, public information officer for the Norwalk Police Department.

Will they catch the culprit? Doubtful. Will it matter? Probably not – the damage is done. The internet, in all it’s fury turned on Penny’s and even though it’s untrue according to Penny’s management “It’s a repulsive statement that’s totally, totally untrue. Uncategorically, unequivocally, we deny we posted anything like that.”

I live on the other side of the country and am not a likely diner – but the locals got caught up in it as well. There are even some angry selfies taken out front – that’s disturbing and dangerous (not going to share that!)

pennys diner norwalk twitter backlash

It gets local, quick

The Lesson:
Here’s what we can take away; we MUST claim our identity on the internet – Penny’s Diner didn’t have a twitter account (the Facebook account in their name seems to be run by a third party as well) and today that is just not acceptable.

Every small business must claim their digital identity – start a Facebook page, twitter account, instagram for your business, even if all you do is set it up and post a few things.

If you think you don’t have time for social media or you don’t need it; THINK AGAIN. The folks at Penny’s are making time today – and not in a good way. Why did someone do this to them? Who knows – there are just awful trolls out there. Would it have been a different outcome if they already had a vibrant social presence? I bet it would be,

Will they recover? I hope so – the good folks online are beginning to say “Hey! Stop! It’s a hoax” and there is news coverage about the hoax and police investigation (even people using Yelp to make the point

Pennys Diner Norwalk on YELP - Some guy even took to Yelp to defend Penny's

Some guy even took to Yelp to defend Penny’s

Don’t let this happen to you – your customers are online, your customers are on social media and you have got to be there too. Don’t think you have time? Yes you do.

 

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UPDATE:
Yelp has flagged the reviews and it “cleaning them up” – a bit of a remedy, but you can’t erase the internet. By having your digital identity secured, you are a less attractive target for Trolls – and you have active fans who will come to your defense.
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