Wetherspoons to close down social media accounts

Pub chain JD Wetherspoon is closing down its social media profiles.

The Watford-headquartered company took to Twitter today (April 16) to announce that it is leaving the micro-blogging site along with Facebook and Instagram.

Speaking to the BBC, company chairman Tim Martin said: “We are going against conventional wisdom that these platforms are a vital component of a successful business.

“We were also concerned that pub managers were being side-tracked from the real job of serving customers.”

According to Mr Martin, the majority (90-95%) of the chain’s pub managers previously reported that they felt social media was unhelpful to the business.

He added: “I don’t believe that closing these accounts will affect our business whatsoever.”

In an interview with BBC Radio 5 Live, the Wetherspoons chairman also said he believes people will be “mentally and physically better off” if they limit social media use to half an hour a day.

He continued: “I find most people I know waste their time on it. A lot of them say they know they waste their time on it, but they struggle to get off it.”

Commenting on the announcement, Evgeny Chereshnev, chief exec and founder of tech company Biolink.Tech, said: “One of today’s modern misconceptions is that social media (SM) is essential for business.

“The truth is, most companies totally mix cause and effect; they invest lots of money in SM as if those channels were a business goal in itself, but in reality SM is just a tool for talking and listening to your clients.”

Evgeny added: “Is social media the only way to perform those two tasks? Definitely not.”

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