You may not agree with Don Blankenship’s politics, nor with the Massey Energy CEO’s dim view of climate change science. You may find that his coal mining operation’s practice of detonating mountain tops to get at the coal inside shocking and destructive. And you may question the coal baron’s sincerity in mourning the deaths of 25 of his coal miners as evidence mounts that Massey Energy is one of the biggest safety scofflaws in the industry. But you have to hand it to Blankenship: he certainly isn’t backing down from his biggest critics in this, his most vulnerable hour.

Blankenship, one of the few CEOs in the energy industry that avidly tweets, has taken to his favorite forum to praise rescue workers, solicit prayers for the victims’ families and for the rescue workers and to demonize “much of the media.” The effect has been impressive. Blankenship’s Twitter following has soared since the tragedy first came to light on Monday morning. He’s gained 387 followers this week (bringing his total follower count to 1,347 as of me writing this column), no doubt all of them anxious to hear Blankenship’s version of what’s going on above and below the earth’s surface. Here’s what his surge in Twitter popularity looks like, courtesy of TwitterCounter’s handy graphing technology:

Over the previous three weeks, Blankenship was lucky to gain a few followers over the course of a week. Since the April 5 tragedy, he’s on track to double his follower ranks in the next seven days,TwitterCounter projects.

But if Blankenship thought he was going to be able to use Twitter to broadcast an unfiltered corporate response to the tragedy and to evoke sympathy fromTwitter’s 75 million users, he’s sadly mistaken. Coinciding with the surge in his personal followers is an outbreak of hostility towards him and towards Massey Energy on Twitter and elsewhere. His critics are giving him an ear-full, posting details of his pay check and calling for his arrest. The union, the Sheet Metal Workers International, has re-tweeted to its 1,000 followers a call for eternal damnation upon Blankenship’s soul. The acrimony will only grow louder until Blankenship answers his accusers and addresses the company’s safety track record, plus explain how it is that the Upper Big Branch Mine, the site of this week’s tragedy, has been hit with so many safety violations over the years.

On these points, the Blankenship Twitter feed is conspicuously silent.

In the past, Massey used Twitter to attack his biggest enemies: Al Gore, green energy proponents, the Democratic Congress and the Sierra Club are all favorite targets. Now, he needs the Twitter feed to fend off an attack against him in the hopes of preserving some semblance of his personal reputation and that of his company’s. It doesn’t work that way. TheTwitterverse has a long-term memory. It will use your words against you, as Blankenship can see for himself, one re-tweet at a time. As Patti Digh, a blogger with an impressive Twitter following, tweets: “Dear Sir – I pray you learn something from this tragedy. RT @ DonBlankenship: Pray for the families and the rescue workers.”