Blog: Social media's impact on product recall - The ultimate canary in the coal mine?

The Financial Times recently reported that General Motors was using tiny recalls to head off protracted safety campaigns that have battered the automotive industry's reputation. So far, so unrevealing. The automotive sector habitually uses 'soft' recalls to resolve product defects on the quiet, essentially applying fixes whenever vehicles come in for routine servicing or repairs to obviate the need for a full blown recall - and without the attendant publicity.

More revelatory though was the observation that GM employs more than 1,000 people to scour social media to spot problems with its cars. Given the evident willingness of individuals to share