It looks like around 162,000 Hummer H3s are being recalled because of dangerous detachable hoods and at least 40,000 Corvettes are being recalled because of steering column problems.

Let’s hope that General Motors has its social media strategy in order. As of 5pm CST, no comment had been made on the GM Twitter feed or company blog.

Compare that with the number of people already tweeting about “GM” and “recall” right now.

Toyota has ToyotaConversations, a site powered by Tweetmeme that aggregates the company’s Twitter feed (under the heading “Toyota Responds”), tweeted news, and images and video about Toyota.

If a company provides helpful service and support using social channels, it can project an outward genuineness that is key. Traditional methods of customer service will still be important during this crisis, but there should still be a plan in place for PR people to deal with customer complaints and recall issues via social media.

Today, companies in crisis can’t afford to hide from the public. The amount of people who will hear about a recall is exponentially larger than the number of people who are actually affected by it.

Is your social media crisis management strategy in place?

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