So I decided to check out what was going on and lo and behold, many fellow tweets were voicing their not so nice things about P Diddy (Sean “Diddy” Combs).

See for yourself…

#unfollowdiddy is trending so I read his tweets. He’s less of a jerk than I expected, but arrogant as he**. Twitters taking him down a peg.

#unfollowdiddy FOLLOW ME FOR A FREE #unfollowdiddy T SHIRT -ONE WINNER EVERY HOUR SM L XL

Good Morning twit fam!! I see the movement #unfollowdiddy is still going strong!

I think I will #unfollowdiddy even though I never followed him because it seems to be the cool thing to do today.

@iamdiddy if you love your followers so much, why not follow them back? #unfollowdiddy {so…why not?}

#unfollowdiddy because he’s a loser!

#unfollowdiddy It’s not because he hit 1 million. It’s how he did it. He kept screaming at people to RT. It was unnatural.

WOW! He is getting slammed by ‘the people’!! This is just a very small sampling of what is on the mind of the fans.

This whole #unfollowdiddy campaign is freaking hilarious. I unfollowed him a long time ago because he was so annoying.

I think they hurt Diddy’s feelings…he’s taken the #unfollowdiddy thing personally…LOL

What did he do to receive so much wrath?

That’s not the focus of my sharing today but I can tell you it had to do with folks perceiving he has double standards.

The point I am wanting to make in bringing this to your attention is not to spread gossip but to AGAIN backup up my position with real live facts…your brand is in the hands of the people.

And as you can see…it doesn’t matter WHO you are. If you are a super star or a politician, a local restaurant, a freelancer, or whatever. In minutes, you can be swept up in a fury of good or bad PR (People Release) and it can have huge repercussions (both good or bad).

What can you do to try and make sure what happened to P Diddy (Sean “Diddy” Combs) today does not happen to you?

Here are just a few proactive things to help ensure you don’t get on the bad list.

Be Real! People are fed up with lip service and falseness. Don’t be fake! Old fashioned things like character, honor and integrity will take you a long way in today’s marketplace both online and off (imagine that, this is back in style!).

Care about People! Don’t get full of yourself. Pay attention to what you do and how you treat people online and off. Don’t treat some better than others because they have more stature. You never know who you are dealing with and that can come back and bite you someday. Someone is always watching and talking about you and your business or brand. You cant fake care!

Don’t be Just a Taker! In today’s community minded economy, being a genuine giver is an expected and appreciated quality. What can you do to help others better their lives?

Take Your Tribe Serious! If you are in the position to have a following no matter how large or small, see that as a privilege, not a right. If you have such a following it is your responsibility to learn all you can on how to be the best you can for them and how to nurture your tribe. Here’s something I don’t see much of… help someone you don’t know move up a notch in their business. Like Gary Vaynerchuck says (paraphrased)…Social Equity is as valuable to anyone in business as Financial Equity. This is Tribenomics for sure.

If you are not in tune with how social community and social media works and how to best position your business and brand…get a professional to help you get positioned for this right now! Because here’s the thing…with or without you, the people rule!

P.S. If you need some advice or referral for help on this please feel free to contact me at hn @ strategicbusinessdesigner.com

Apparently the marketing gurus in this company (and most other corporations for that matter) have not taken into consideration every move they make…we are watching them…and Twittering!

All over the country people were Twittering about their unhappy experience in “real-time“.  This is the power of the Social Network folks!

It’s for certain, many folks on were not happy campers. Just look at some of the comments I saw coming across Twitter…

one dollar flip flop day at old navy : hate hate hate flip flops : hate hate hate old navy : hate everyone buying flip flops right now

I just hope that Old Navy took names of everyone who CAMPED OUT for flip flops, in the interests of future gene pool cleansing

Da%$#^…old navy is out of $1 flip flops…i should have known.

In Old Navy people are fighting over the flip flops.I’m not even joking.

No more flip flops at old navy. Like 0 pairs left. People are intense.

Old navy was a bunch of B.S.

OLD Navy will remember the next time they have a $1.00. They had to close the store!

Craziness at Old Navy, all for cheap plastic shoes! So not worth it!

Will Old Navy try to do damage repair? That remains to be seen. What I do know is this should be a lesson for all of us in business but especially for you big guys.

No longer are you in control of your brand. The people are! Anyone in business not recognizing this must have checked out awhile back.

But here the thing, it’s not enough to just recognize this. You better be proactive and THINK through your marketing, services, products, advertising, etc.

Just sitting around the table dreaming up promotions and such is very dangerous in this new era. Heck, I’m still upset with KFC when they would not take my coupon I downloaded from the Oprah offer. That turned into a PR nightmare for them even if they don’t know it.

What matters is what the customer thinks…PERIOD!