Com 100 Final Project

Running head: GOOD MOBILE, BAD EA
Good Mobile, Bad EA: A Study of Ethics Within Corporate Social Media Accounts
Liam Martinez
COM 100 – Dr. Sahm

Introduction
The topic of this essay is social media for public relations. More specifically, I will be
examining the social media accounts, specifically the Twitter accounts, of two companies, EA
and T-Mobile, and seeing how well they are utilized for public relations purposes, along with the
ethics of the accounts. My main question guiding this study is, “How do companies use social
media for public relations in positive and negative ways?” This study was done by looking at a
company known to have a positive social media presence, T-Mobile, and a company with an
overall negative public perception, EA. Another goal for this study is to explore and explain
some of the most basic aspects of public relations. By looking at what these companies do on
their social media accounts, I can use them to explain some basic public relations accounts and
rules. According to my research, these companies’ social media accounts do good and bad
things, but they ultimately fail on an ethical standpoint.
Overview/History of Project
EA is a game development and publishing company. EA is widely considered to be one
of the worst companies in America, even receiving the title of “Worst Company in America” by
Consumerist two years in a row.1 The company is hated for such actions as forcing employees to
work overtime without pay and purchasing smaller game companies only to shut them down and
take over game franchises they created.2 Despite this, EA still made $5.1 billion USD in 2018,
likely due to the many franchises it owns and microtransactions.3 It’s notable that EA is one of
the few companies in gaming to use automatic quality assurance in an attempt to save money. 4
1
(Goldfarb, “EA Named ‘Worst Company in America’ Again”, 2013)
2
(Burner, Duarte, & Gaines, "Top Ten Worst EA FAILS", 2018)
3
(Macy, "EA Made $5.1 Billion In Revenue for 2018, Anthem Still on Track for 2019 Release", 2018)
4
(Coatta, “Automated QA Testing at Electronic Arts”, 2014)
T-Mobile is a phone company that created a network for phones and internet for houses. People
like T-Mobile because it often gives people better deals than other phone companies, despite
offering no loyalty rewards.5 As of April 2019, T-Mobile has 77.25 million users.6 T-Mobile’s,
social media account is considered to have some exceptional customer service, answering 86%
of all questions asked by consumers.7
Evaluation Criteria
Before I really start analyzing the social media accounts, I am going to look at posts,
images, and replies from these accounts from the point of view of an average consumer. This
section will show how an average person will see these social media accounts before going
deeper in analysis. When I begin evaluating these companies’ social media accounts from a
professional, ethical standpoint, I will follow a certain set of criteria. Most importantly, these
accounts must be truthful, maintain ethical conduct, give unique information, and remain
unbiased in their statements.8 These include doing actions such as correcting anything false the
company states, not defending the companies, or their associates if they do improper things, and
putting personal interests aside and avoiding any conflicts of interest for the good of the
companies.9 These are the basics of the Public Relations Society of America code of ethics. At
the same time, the accounts must not reveal any hidden information, unless it would help prevent
unethical conduct.10 The accounts must also correct any comments from the employees, or even
the accounts themselves, that could be considered irresponsible, instead of doubling down and
5
(Newman & Mediratta, “T-Mobile Treat Van”, 2013)
6
(Holst, “T-Mobile US - Statistics & Facts”, 2019)
7
(Pozin, “20 Companies You Should Be Following On Social Media”, 2014)
8
(“PRSA Member Code of Ethics 2000 Preamble”, 2007)
9
10
agreeing with or defending them.11 There are more ways to judge social media than with the
Public Relations Society of America code of ethics, though. Doing simple things, such as using
the accounts to share stories or involving the companies’ target audiences, can make the accounts
have a more positive perception overall.12 However, generalized messages that effectively reach
a wide group of people will also be valid.13 The accounts should also address people’s questions
and concerns and not just post when the companies are about to debut a new product.14 Finally,
the accounts must focus solely on the companies and their views and not in any way reflect the
life or opinions of the employee(s) running the account.15
Organization #1: EA
Looking at EA’s Twitter account, @EA, it is surprisingly less reflective of the company’s
poor business practices than one would expect. On the surface, the company seems nice and
friendly, with interactions similar to an average Twitter user. One example of this kind of
behavior comes from their reply to a tweet they’d previously sent out. They stated that, despite
most major game consoles giving different names to the start button on their controllers, they
will still call it the start button, and a fan, @johnjenningsbro, replied that he agreed. Since his
reply included the word “forever”, @EA replied with a GIF from the Sandlot of a police officer
saying “Forever”, which received 61 likes and 1 retweet.16 This GIF is the sort of thing an
average Twitter would post. Another example comes from a reply to a reply. @Feelys posted
that the second @ of whoever sees the tweet needs to post a “booty pic”. @DefineHorrible
11
12
(Allagui & Breslow, "Social media for public relations: Lessons from four effective cases", 2016)
13
(Fathi, “Should old trends be forgotten: 2013 predictions for PR and social media”, 2013)
14
(Momoc, “Social Media-PR Tools for Romanian Politicians?”, 2013)
15
(Myers, “An analysis of social media ownership litigation between organizations and PR practitioners”, 2015)
16
(account, “Electronic Arts (@EA)”, 2019)
replied that his second @ was @EA. So, @EA replied with a picture of a character from one of
their games turned away from the camera so their butt was sticking out, a post that received 45
likes.17 This post shows that @EA has a sense of humor, even regarding their own creations.
Doing stuff like this arguably involves EA’s target audience, since these are the kinds of things
they do on social media. Another series of tweets shows how @EA responds to questions from
consumers. @mimisac1 stated she needed help with her EA account, so @EA replied with an
account that could help her with her account, @EAHelp. So, while they aren’t directly
answering questions from consumers, they at least direct consumers to someone who can. It can
be argued that this is not good either, since @EAHelp was not able to solve @mimisac1’s
problem, but that will not be held against @EA, since they are likely run by different people.18
@EA does occasionally directly answer consumer questions, such as concerns regarding the
online pass, showing they do care about their customers.19 A recent post from @EA that
received a significant number of retweets, 7,338 to be exact, was a post revealing that EA would
start working with an online game store, Steam.20 This works because it is simple. It shows a
picture of the EA and Steam logos, it states that they have some news, and it provides a link to a
longer article. It shows as much as it needs to get its message across, and people get the overall
idea without any unnecessary words. This all makes it clear that whomever runs @EA has some
idea of what they’re doing.
However, digging a bit deeper into the account shows that @EA is also doing several
things wrong. The main problem comes from their occasional poor and inappropriate
17
18
19
20
interactions with consumers. One example of this comes from a reply to a tweet @EA made
about one of their Madden games. @GhostTechGaming replied to this tweet saying that EA
should stop messing around on social media and “fix the game”. Most companies would simply
ignore a tweet like this or say something simple like, “On it.” Instead, @EA replied, chastising
@GhostTechGaming for not knowing that the people who make the Madden games don’t run the
social media account. This resulted in several people chastising @EA for talking to their
customers in this way, stating that they are getting rid of their EA games and not buying any
more.21 Another example comes from the previously discussed “start button” tweet. Replying to
a reply from @MrProWestie, @EA posted a GIF with the subtitle, “Why would you say
something so controversial, yet so brave,” referring to themselves.22 Whether they were joking
or being serious, calling your own statements “brave” makes you seem pretentious. Another
problem with @EA is that they rarely ever address controversies related to the company. This
includes making any comments and addressing any concerns from consumers. Most companies
would use their social media accounts for damage control, but @EA neglects to do this. When
bringing up controversial games, such as SimCity, @EA only tries to sell people the games.23
Even when people started criticizing the company for their excessive use of microtransactions
and it came out that the company neglected to pay their employees overtime when they worked
overtime, @EA said nothing.24 The only controversy @EA addressed was the online pass.
People were getting upset that EA was making people pay to play their games online if they were
21
22
23
24
used. Eventually, @EA addressed the controversy by stating that the online pass would soon be
eliminated.25
One more thing off about @EA is that many people who don’t like the company leave
negative replies on their tweets. @EA never tries to respond to these comments or address their
concerns, thus just leaving many negative comments throughout their account.26 There are many
examples of this. When @EA replied to @A_kamara6’s tweet of, “Don’t ever think…..we don’t
know,” with a statement regarding a roommate eating your food, @ThisIsCOB replied with a
statement about how many of EA’s games are bad and that their stock is falling.27 When @EA
made a tweet building hype for Battlefield V, @SwurzeGamez replied stating that nobody
wanted to play this game.28 Even a reply to the previously discussed “forever” tweet by
@JustJohnny asked for how long EA would keep using microtransactions, implying that the
answer is “forever”.29 So, while @EA does some things right, it also has several issues that need
to be fixed.
Organization #2: T-Mobile
Looking at the Twitter account for T-Mobile, @TMobile, it can be seen that whoever runs
this account has a very good idea of how to run a social media account. In terms of engagement,
@TMobile is able to interact with both individual users and multiple users rather well. The
account has interacted with multiple users by making a post that asked people to share their
scariest “robocall” stories for a chance to win a phone. A majority of the responses are friendly,
25
26
27
28
29
people simply sharing their stories and discussing their shared experiences.30 This post
encourages community interaction, both by giving an opportunity to share and an opportunity to
win something of value. This is an easy way to spread the word of their company, since any
followers of users who respond will see this account and learn more about T-Mobile. This post
also shows that the account isn’t afraid to speak to more tech savvy users, using words some
people won’t know like “robocall”. @TMobile even made a post asking what people’s favorite
old piece of tech is, including #NationalGetToKnowYourCustomersDay.31 This shows how
dedicated @TMobile is to interact with their customers. The account has interacted with
individual users by responding to some of these “robocall” stories. One example was a response
to a post by @shannongsims. She stated that many individuals living in Brazil get almost
constant calls from telemarketers before explaining that this could be avoided with a T-Mobile
international plan. @TMobile then responded by stating, “We got your back.” While this reply
got zero likes, it still shows the account trying to show a friendly connection with consumers.32
A different example of individual interaction comes from a reply to @eastofeden127. They
posted that they were part of a Diwali celebration at T-Mobile and were proud to be a part of it.
@TMobile replied with, “A truly spectacular celebration,” a reply that received five likes.33 This
not only showed the account trying to connect with @eastofeden127, but also showed the
account embracing other cultures than American. One more post that shows individual
interaction is a reply to @pony_loco. He posted a picture of himself standing in front of a T-
Mobile billboard, asking the company for a sponsorship. @TMobile responded with a link to a
sponsorship application. While this post also received no likes, even if it was uploaded as a joke,
30
(account, “T-Mobile (@TMobile)”, 2019)
31
32
33
this still promotes good communication between the company and consumers and could work
out for the company if @pony_loco continues advertising for them.34 This also shows
@TMobile helping out average users where they can. Even though @TMobile doesn’t always
respond to users’ questions, T-Mobile does have a specific account for asking questions, so this
is understandable.35 A recent @TMobile post that got a high number of retweets, 25,400 to be
specific, stated that retweeting the post gave a chance to win tickets to the World Series.36 While
this is a bit cheap, since it’s just using the chance of a prize for publicity, it’s still effective, since
anybody following somebody who retweets the post will learn about T-Mobile and they are still
giving somebody a good prize.
Similar to @EA, @TMobile also sometimes responds with memes to make themselves
seem more like an average user. One example of this comes from a reply to @gofooji. They
replied to the “robocall” post with a joke about receiving a call from the police. @TMobile
replied with a GIF of a man nervously stuttering, a post that received twenty four likes.37 While
the account does sometimes post advertisements, some of them show unique things only T-
Mobile offers. One post, for example, advertises reserved tickets for a Post Malone concert only
T-Mobile customers can get.38 Showing things your company exclusively offers is a good way to
advertise why you are special. Another post has previously live streamed the reveal of a new
phone from one of their own stores.39 This is a good way to use exclusive features of social
media to advertise products. One more post showed a nine second version of one of the
34
35
36
37
38
39
company’s commercials.40 This is an effective way to show a commercial on social media, since
somebody scrolling through Twitter would be more inclined to watch a nine second video than a
thirty second one, so more people will become more aware of T-Mobile. As you can see,
@TMobile does many things that show they know how to do well on social media.
Unfortunately, @TMobile still makes some mistakes. Sometimes, they simply make
some bad decisions. One example of this is when the account called out Verizon for only giving
their customers free Netflix for a year, while T-Mobile has been giving its customers free Netflix
since 2017. This alone isn’t necessarily a bad thing, since they are simply advertising a feature
their competitors don’t have, similar to the Post Malone post. But, replies to this post have
angrily pointed out that only those with a family plan get free Netflix.41 So, this post not only
attracted negative attention with the replies, but also essentially lies to get more sales. This post
does show another example of replying like a regular person, though. @PipsqueakesRock
replied to the Netflix post, stating that Disney+ was a better streaming service. @TMobile
replied with a GIF of a man gasping.42 Despite the consequences of the original Netflix post,
this reply at least shows that T-Mobile is capable of portraying themselves in a comedic light.
Despite their mistakes, T-Mobile still has done more right than wrong on social media.
Analysis of Ethics
The PRSA guidelines for ethics is a set of rules established by the Public Relations
Society of America that says how individuals working in public relations should act.43 Studying
this truly shows the essence of EA and T-Mobile. Both companies have done things that comply
40
41
42
43
with the PRSA guidelines. @EA and @TMobile seem to follow the rule of maintaining distance
between personal and professional needs.44 On the other hand, EA makes some basic PRSA
violations with its social media account. As previously stated, @EA neglects to perform damage
control, neglecting to defend the company they represent.45 This goes against the PRSA rule that
members should defend the company they represent.46 EA is not the only company that makes
errors, though. @EA and @TMobile have both posted things that are not ethical, honest, or
unbiased, including the snapback regarding game developers and the false Netflix advertisement,
and the accounts never correct this irresponsible behavior, instead continuously doing them.47,48
This goes against the PRSA rule that members should never be unethical, false, or biased, as well
as the rule to correct this behavior, with @TMobile also violating the rule regarding “lying by
omission”.49 @TMobile is able to follow the PRSA guidelines when it comes to gifts, though.
Gifts they give are infrequent and legal, since they are rare giveaways, and there is no ethical
violation, since winners are not asked to say positive things about the company or products in
exchange for the prize.50 This follows the PRSA rules regarding gifts.51 The PRSA guidelines
are not the only things violated, and obeyed, by these companies. @TMobile not only
encourages people to share stories, but they also share stories, such as the Diwali celebration.52,53
The memes that these companies post could be seen as a problem to some, though, since they
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
(Allagui & Breslow, "Social media for public relations: Lessons from four effective cases", 2016)
don’t have much to do with the companies.54 There is also the mixed bag of neither account
really answering questions from consumers.55
Conclusion
In conclusion, despite T-Mobile seeming to make better social media decisions than EA,
looking at the PRSA and other guidelines reveal that both companies make many mistakes on
social media, so they both may actually be incompetent when it comes to social media.
Companies’ social media accounts can do good and bad things, no matter what the opinion of the
companies is, but it all goes out the window if the PRSA guidelines are ignored. Hopefully,
more companies will give the PRSA attention so they can truly use social media to its fullest
potential.
54
(Myers, “An analysis of social media ownership litigation between organizations and PR practitioners”, 2015)
55
(Momoc, “Social Media-PR Tools for Romanian Politicians?”, 2013)
Works Cited
account, E. A. V. (2019, October 25). Electronic Arts (@EA). Retrieved October 15,
2019, from https://twitter.com/ea.
account, T.-M. V. (2019, October 25). T-Mobile (@TMobile). Retrieved October 26,
2019, from https://twitter.com/tmobile.
Allagui, I., & Breslow, H. (2016). Social media for public relations: Lessons from four
effective cases. Public Relations Review, 42(1), 20–30. doi:
10.1016/j.pubrev.2015.12.001
Coatta, T. (2014). Automated QA testing at electronic arts. Communications of the ACM,
57(7), 50–57. doi: 10.1145/2617754
Fathi, S. (2013, January). Should old trends be forgotten: 2013 predictions for PR and
social media. Public Relations Tactics, 20(1), 15.
Goldfarb, A. (2013, April 9). EA Named 'Worst Company in America' Again. Retrieved
October 8, 2019, from https://www.ign.com/articles/2013/04/09/ea-named-worst-
company-in-america-again.
Holst, A. (2019, April 1). T-Mobile US - Statistics & Facts. Retrieved October 9, 2019,
from https://www.statista.com/topics/996/t-mobile-us/.
Macy, S. (2018, May 8). EA Made $5.1 Billion In Revenue for 2018, Anthem Still on
Track for 2019 Release. Retrieved October 8, 2019, from
https://www.ign.com/articles/2018/05/08/ea-made-51-billion-in-revenue-for-
2018-anthem-still-on-track-for-2019-release.
Momoc, A. (2013). Social Media-PR Tools for Romanian Politicians? Procedia - Social
and Behavioral Sciences, 81, 116–121. doi: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.06.398

Myers, C. (2015). An analysis of social media ownership litigation between organizations
and PR practitioners. Public Relations Review, 41(4), 515–522. doi:
10.1016/j.pubrev.2015.05.003
Newman, A., & Mediratta, N. (2013). T-Mobile Treat Van. Journal of Direct, Data and
Digital Marketing Practice, 14(4), 329–333. doi: 10.1057/dddmp.2013.22
Pozin, I. (2014, March 6). 20 Companies You Should Be Following On Social Media.
Retrieved September 30, 2019, from
https://www.forbes.com/sites/ilyapozin/2014/03/06/20-companies-you-should-be-
following-on-social-media/#77a486d264f2.
PRSA Member Code of Ethics 2000 Preamble. (2007). An Introduction to Writing for
Electronic Media, 305–307. doi: 10.1016/b978-0-240-80852-9.50017-0
Top Ten Worst Ea Fails. (2018). Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zylMgw9_RXc

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Running head: GOOD MOBILE, BAD EA

COM 100 – Dr. Sahm

things, but they ultimately fail on an ethical standpoint.

EA is a game development and publishing company. EA is widely considered to be one

of all questions asked by consumers.7

life or opinions of the employee(s) running the account.15

idea of what they’re doing.

Organization #2: T-Mobile

encourages community interaction, both by giving an opportunity to share and an opportunity to

old piece of tech is, including #NationalGetToKnowYourCustomersDay.31 This shows how

A different example of individual interaction comes from a reply to @eastofeden127. They

interaction is a reply to @pony_loco. He posted a picture of himself standing in front of a T-

giving somebody a good prize.

really answering questions from consumers.55

2019, from https://twitter.com/ea.

2019, from https://twitter.com/tmobile.

effective cases. Public Relations Review, 42(1), 20–30. doi:

Coatta, T. (2014). Automated QA testing at electronic arts. Communications of the ACM,

57(7), 50–57. doi: 10.1145/2617754

social media. Public Relations Tactics, 20(1), 15.

October 8, 2019, from https://www.ign.com/articles/2013/04/09/ea-named-worst-

Track for 2019 Release. Retrieved October 8, 2019, from

and Behavioral Sciences, 81, 116–121. doi: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.06.398

Myers, C. (2015). An analysis of social media ownership litigation between organizations

and PR practitioners. Public Relations Review, 41(4), 515–522. doi:

Digital Marketing Practice, 14(4), 329–333. doi: 10.1057/dddmp.2013.22

Retrieved September 30, 2019, from

Electronic Media, 305–307. doi: 10.1016/b978-0-240-80852-9.50017-0

Top Ten Worst Ea Fails. (2018). Retrieved from

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