Twitter has a lot of issues. If you dare dive into its darker corners, it can be a festering cesspool and echo chamber for conspiracy theories, racism, and violence. Its CEO, Jack Dorsey, has been under fire for failing to address these elements that have virulently spread on his platform, so now it appears that he has a potential solution.

He’s getting rid of the “like” button.

What, you incredulously ask? Yep. The “like” button is the apparent culprit, and Dorsey is publicly flirting with the idea of dumping that little heart-shaped button that accompanies your tweets.

Bonkers.

Dorsey seemed to be thinking aloud at last month’s Wired25 summit about the efficacy of Twitter’s “like” feature and whether it promotes healthy conversation or denigrates communication into a superficial war for popularity:

“Right now we have a big Like button with a heart on it and we’re incentivizing people to want [the number of likes] to go up,” Dorsey reportedly said. “Is that the right thing? Versus contributing to the public conversation or a healthy conversation? How do we [incentivize] healthy conversation?”

It’s not an incorrect point to ponder, but it pales when juxtaposed to the litany of Twitter’s other problems. In a week after an individual sent pipe bombs in the mail to prominent Democrats, news outlets, and private citizens—an individual whose Twitter feed was full of hateful, conspiratorial content—focusing on the retirement of the “like” button seems misplaced at best. Social media has allowed us to connect, but it’s also tearing us apart at the seams.

Maybe start with those who spew hateful rhetoric that devolves the entire global conversation, and then move on to the “like” button which can turn debates into popularity contests. Just an idea.

And while we’re making adjustments to Twitter’s interface, can we just get an “edit” button while we’re at it?

For goods and products-focused industries—especially local businesses—Instagram can be an incredibly powerful social tool. When you build a following on Instagram you’ve essentially built a captive audience, enthusiastic about the products that you provide. When you leverage the likes and follows? Well, that builds business.

The world of social media is in a constant state of evolution. You may wake up one day to a brand new interface that requires you to learn how to use the app or website again—looking at you, Snapchat—or the changes may be more subtle, like added features. They’re not new, but Instagram’s stories seem to have overtaken Snapchat after its ill-advised update. I believe we’ve discussed them on this blog before, but Instagram stories are short video files where the user sets the allowable time to be viewed. The user can build on these stories throughout the day, creating a cohesive, viewable feed.

After 24 hours? Gone.

While the benefit of standalone Instagram posts is well-documented for businesses, companies should also be taking advantage of the Stories feature. Fast Company is out today with a four point primer on the best strategies for utilizing Instagram’s Stories, and the through-line between all of them is creativity and a focus on your customers. While Stories allows you to put your products on display with unique filters and stickers, they also give the enthusiastic users of your products a potential voice.

Let them tell their story about you to your followers, and theirs as well. It can compound your existing audiences, attract new customers, and make the day of those you already have.

So are you using Instagram Stories? Let’s hear your successes!

Perhaps inspired by his recent psychoactive antics on Joe Rogan’s podcast, or possibly the response to the SEC’s recent fine and forced removal as Tesla’s chairman of the board, Elon Musk has turned to the drink—tequila, to be specific.

The oft-wacky genius and Tesla founder is dipping his toes into another market entirely: the alcoholic beverage market. Last week it was announced that Tesla had filed a trademark application for “Teslaquila,” which appears odd given Musk’s usual tech interests but in the overall recent context appears right on brand.

Musk has always embodied the “insane prodigy” stereotype, but of late he’s turned more of a Twitter caricature of himself—an inventor and businessman vocally averse to any media criticism, and making grand proclamations on the social media site that tanked Tesla’s value and resulted in a Securities and Exchange Commission fine. I’m not sure if he’s bored or what, but he’s now keying in on the bottle with “Teslaquila.”

With any major corporation, almost any internal idea that has a snowball’s chance in hell of turning into reality ends up with the requisite trademark paperwork, so we’ll see if this actually comes to fruition. But with Elon Musk, especially in the last few months, it would seem more likely than not.

Should “Teslaquila” hit the shelves, it goes without saying: Don’t hop into your Model-X for a spin after enjoying some of Palo Alto’s finest agave.

“Don’t feed the trolls” is now a well-worn adage for engaging online, and for good reason. Just as in life outside of the internets, some people exist solely to get a rise out of people. Unlike face-to-face interaction, your response to that often mindless prodding can be screen-capped, shared, and mocked to hundreds, thousands—even millions of other people. It’s why it’s best to keep your troll radar sharp, and in your mission to provide exceptional online customer service, have operational guidelines for dealing with social media mischief makers.

Forbes is out with a great piece today that provides a framework for dealing with trolls. It’s a stumbling block for online marketers who are merely trying to do their job in an engaging and respectful manner, but may feel like they’re being duped after a couple of nonsensical back-and-forths.

The top, actionable advice involves offering to take a conversation offline. That serves two purposes: it snuffs out trolls, as they operate purely on attention, and it creates a private venue so the details of customer complaints aren’t aired out in a public forum.

Trolls don’t want to talk—they want to torment. Offering direct message or email communication provides them no value on your social media platforms.

The Forbes article also outlines areas where it’s alright to go against the traditional customer service norms such as blocking or removing content. Again: it helps to have online representatives that are adept at targeting trolls.

Social media customer service has streamlined companies’ abilities to quickly connect with customers, but with that comes a deluge of ne’er-do-wells who thrive on being a nuisance. When you’re looking to take your service efforts to the internet, it helps to remember the adage we started with: Don’t feed the trolls.

PR/PR is celebrating 20 years of providing publicity for our clients, and amid that festive backdrop we’re announcing a new service to herald in our anniversary.

We’re excited to formally unveil our PR coaching service: A one-on-one, curated series of sessions with our President, Russell Trahan. Geared toward professional speakers, consultants, and non-fiction authors who may desire an audience that’s outside of our traditional wheelhouse, our new Publicity Coaching service will give you direct insight into our time-tested strategies to boost name-recognition and visibility.

Here’s how it works: Those who engage PR/PR with the Publicity Coaching service will receive three sessions directly with Russell, where he will comb through your existing collateral, hone your individual messaging to increase opportunities to boost your visibility within your target market, and assist you in establishing a unique media hook. It will be a collaborative process over the course of three months with the goal of streamlining your individual expertise to leverage your knowledge and content in your specific area.

Russell is thrilled to begin this new service, and in an effort to devote the necessary time and attention to each individual client’s needs and goals, there is limited availability per-month. Head on over to the new PR coaching section on our page for a detailed explainer, and feel free to reach out for more information!