Abstract

For almost a decade, the social medium of Twitter has provided a platform for individuals to instantly connect with others, businesses to build their brands and movements to attract new followers. Yet, although Twitter, Inc. has promoted its product as a customer service application, it has not actively marketed itself as a technology mediated dispute resolution tool (TMDR). This article explores ways in which organizations have utilized Twitter’s power as a conflict avoidance mechanism and as a reputation system, leveraging its ability to provide convenience, trust, and expertise to their followers. It then argues for Twitter, Inc. to actively ‘join the conversation’ of TMDR or risk being left out altogether.