Twitter can be a brutal world for customer service workers. Complaints about companies are not just public but often harsh: “Sitting on the Tarmac at DFW waiting for a gate! Late again #americanairlines.”

SMITH BRAIN TRUST — Twitter can be a brutal world for customer-service workers, since complaints get aired not just with great vitriol but also very publicly. All companies take virtual punches to the gut, and they have to decide how to respond.

A recent CBC Music report holds up music bands as models of good Tweeting skills, citing Atlanta rapper Waka Flocka Flame as one example with 1.3 million followers. “@wakaFlockabsm has something for everyone,” the report says. “Fun interactions with fans, inspirational quotes and weird hashtags.” Social media has become increasingly important for musicians to engage fans, promote output and subsequently lift record and concert sales — a dynamic analyzed in a recent study from the Smith School.

The Smith School is happy to welcome the following new professors to the school: Accounting & Information Assurance Hanna Lee Derek Johnson Decisions, Operations & Information Technologies Tunay Tunca Inbal Yahav Ilya O. Ryzhov Pamela Armstrong Ilchul Yoon Rui Zhao

Firms that adopt a freemium model hope to entice people to become paying customers. They often fail. Research shows how they can succeed.