Teenager created a Twitter account in the name of Jet boss and had Vijay Mallya, Anand Mahindra and Shashi Tharoor as followers throughout Wednesday
Teenager created a Twitter account in the name of Jet boss and had Vijay Mallya, Anand Mahindra and Shashi Tharoor as followers throughout Wednesday
For 19-year-old Reema Wahi, it was a tribute to her hero.
However, what she didn't know was the controversy her adulation for the Jet Airways boss Naresh Goyal generated.
Webshot of the Twitter profile after Jet Airways reported the matter
to the social networking website
The Haryana teenager created a profile in the name of aviation baron on the social networking site Twitter. The profile had a picture of Goyal and it got everyone thinking it was Goyal himself.
Though it could not be ascertained when the profile was created, there were 146 followers in no time.
The first tweet was posted on February 20 at 3:16 pm. "Fly the friendly skies, We love To Fly, And It Shows. https://www.jetairways.com/. I'm flying high and couldn't be more confident about the future," read Wahi's first tweet.
The profile attracted top corporate honchos. Mahindra and Mahindra chief Anand Mahindra, Kingfisher Airlines chairman Vijay Mallya and Minister of State for foreign affairs Shashi Tharoor followed 'Naresh Goyal' throughout Wednesday.
"I'm glad to see so many followers in a short span of Time, Thanking Anand mahindra Ji, & each one of you, Will get Back When I Get Time," another tweet read.
Course correction
Jet Airways swung into action on Tuesday morning after some netizens posted a query on the official Jet Airways website, wanting to know whether the profile was original or fake.
"An unauthorized user was using Mr Goyal's name. The matter was reported to Twitter and the issue has been
resolved now," an official spokesperson for Jet Airways said.
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Hours after the profile was declared a fake, a number of people blocked Wahi. The teenager had to change the profile name and picture by Tuesday evening.
Die-hard fan
"I am a huge fan of Mr Goyal and at no point in time did I claim to be him," Wahi said in tweet exchanges with this correspondent.
Wahi however declined to share her telephone number and instead asked a cousin to talk to MiD DAY.
"Reema is very afraid. She cannot talk to anyone. She never meant any harm to anybody. She created the profile in the name of Mr Goyal just because she is a great fan of the Jet Airways chief," Wahi's cousin brother said, requesting anonymity.
Turbulence
Wahi was furious at the way Jet Airways reacted. She said the airlines should have asked her side of the story first before reporting the matter to Twitter.
"They did not even show the courtesy of tweeting me once."
In her last tweet, before changing the profile name and picture, Wahi wrote: "I Love Mr Naresh Goyal & Jet Airways, Never Thought This misunderstanding will lead to This much problem, Sincerly apologising all."
Nareshgoyal9w -u00a0Twitter profile that was reported fake by Jet Airways
Fans_NareshG9W - New Twitter profile created by Reema Wahi
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