Last month, that bastion of crusading journalism, Britain’s  Daily Mail, reported that Steve Jobs had announced the recall of the iPhone 4 through his personal Twitter account. A few hours after publishing the story, the Daily Mail editors were surprised to learn that the iPhone 4 wasn’t actually being recalled and that the Twitter page that tipped the story wasn’t the real Steve Jobs; it was in fact a highly followed fake Twitter account.

The Mail may have been late on the ruse, but it got us wondering: is there anything real corporate chiefs can learn from their fake counterparts?

1. Meet the new influencers

Klout, the social media measuring group, noted recently that fake Twitter accounts tend to be more popular than real ones. For example, the fake BP account (BPglobalPR) had a larger group of followers, a higher retweet rate, and a larger reach than the real Twitter account BP_America. Of course, the fake account gave timely and satirical responses to actual world events, which Klout was quick to note:

People love humor and a good satire of a company or persona can actually gain much more viral influence than the real thing.

The fake Steve Jobs account @CEOstevejobs continues to happily tweet to 115,921 followers with a bio that reads “I don’t care what you think of me. You care what I think of you. Of course this is a parody account.” Some popular and beloved fake Steve Jobs tweets include: “Because of me, a whole generation is going to grow up hating beach balls” and “Retire, relax, enjoy your family. You’re all just upset over a phone you’re paying hundreds of dollars for. Not worth it.” The lesson here: the public is hanging on the daily thoughts, musings, insights of the world’s most innovative leaders. Ignore them at your peril. A fictitious stand-in will no doubt fill the void.

2. Claim that Twitter handle before some foul-mouthed joker does

The fake Twitter accounts extend into wherever 140 characters can poke good satirical fun. There is an account for Fabio Capello, the manager of the English football team, which has 2,060 followers and has been tweeting profanities ever since Paul the psychic octopus predicted Germany’s win over England on June 27th:

3. Establish your Twitter chops before controversy sets in.

Before BP, Goldman Sachs was Public Enemy No. 1. During the spring, a Twitter doppleganger emerged for Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein. Recently he/she posted “For all those cheering impending passage of #finreg, let us remind you, CDO’s aren’t the only WMD’s we possess.”

4. If 90% of the tech word uses your product, join the conversation or risk being lampooned.

This of course applies to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. His fake Twitter page, and fake personal blog, recently announced:

5. Warning: entering thick-skin zone!

You wouldn’t be parodied if you weren’t somebody. A BIG somebody. Fictitious Twitter  accounts needle the big guys, most often in a humorous way that pokes fun at questionable customer service (Apple) buggy products (ahem, Microsoft) and market dominance (Goldman Sachs). Essentially, when a company or person is visible enough, their voice must be as well. In other words, if you walk the walk, then you have to talk the talk. Otherwise, your customers (or critics) will for you.

We at SMI are all for open company dialogue with the public, so a good prescription may be to actually start tweeting. Returning to Steve Jobs as an example, if he openly tweeted to everyone and didn’t mysteriously leak information through random emails to customers, then rumors wouldn’t start about iPhone 4 recalls and the general public may not view him with apprehensive respect as a man in the high castle.