Apple Becomes Most Hated Brand on the Internet

Apple has long been known for its fanatic fanboys, who attack anyone online who even hints that the company or its products are not perfect. Now the tables have turned: Brandwatch has found that Apple has become the most reviled brand on the Internet.

The social media analyst firm Brandwatch recently released research that found that Apple is the brand most commonly associated with the term #fail. That hashtag first originated on Twitter, but has since spread throughout the Internet to become a general term of derision and criticism.

Brandwatch found more use of that hashtag for Apple and its products than any other company. According to the Economic Times the report found:

"In the past month, Apple was mentioned 1204 times in Twitter messages containing the hashtag. The majority were directed at the Apple brand generally, while others contained specific complaints about its products --- the iPhone, iPad and Mac."

The criticism wasn't just on Twitter; it was throughout blogs, Brandwatch found. Complaints about the iPhone's reception problems and antennagate were especialy common.

It's easy to dismiss a report like this as much ado about nothing. But, in fact, it's a danger sign for Apple. Apple sells an aura as much as it sells products, and if that aura fades, so will Apple sales. There's certainly no signs yet that Apple sales have suffered. But if the negative views of the company continue to skyrocket, that may change.

By the way, if you're wondering what other companies have bad reputations on Twitter, Facebook came in second, Nokia third, and the BBC fourth.

It's easy to see why Facebook and Nokia are on the list. But the BBC? What do people have to complain about -- the announcers' annoyingly posh accents?

This story, "Apple Becomes Most Hated Brand on the Internet" was originally published by Computerworld.