Between 2011 and 2016 I was the person Fox 5, FOX Business, CNBC, Bloomberg and MSNBC called when a brand blew up online. Some of these stories were fun, some cost people their jobs, and one moved the stock market. What they have in common is that the crowd was always faster than the company. Here is each segment with the rule I took from it.
One tweet moved the Dow: the AP hack
Hackers used the Associated Press account to post a fake explosion at the White House and the Dow fell 140 points in minutes. Rule: two-factor authentication on every corporate account, and a written plan for who speaks in the first fifteen minutes. In 2026 the same plan needs to cover a deepfake of your CEO.
The AP Twitter hack and the flash crash
Hackers posted a fake explosion at the White House from the Associated Press account and the Dow dropped 140 points in minutes. I explained how one tweet moved the market and why every company needs two-factor authentication on its social accounts.
The AP Twitter hack on Varney & Co.
The Fox Business version of the AP hack conversation, focused on the market impact.
The wrong person had the keys: KitchenAid, the EMT, the airline threat
A KitchenAid employee tweeted a tasteless joke from the brand account during a presidential debate. An EMT lost his job over Facebook posts. A 14-year-old's joke threat to an airline ended in police custody. Rule: decide in advance who can speak for the company, and assume there is no private mode.
Facebook charging users and the KitchenAid Twitter debacle
A KitchenAid employee posted a tasteless tweet about the President's late grandmother from the brand account during a debate. I used it to explain who should hold the keys to a brand's social accounts and how to respond in the first hour.
Facebook hits one billion users, charging users, and the KitchenAid tweet
Three stories in one segment: Facebook crossing a billion users, the rumor it would charge for accounts, and a brand's disastrous tweet.
An EMT fired over Facebook posts, with Ernie Anastos
A New York EMT was fired for Facebook posts. One of the first mainstream conversations about whether your employer owns your online voice.
The 14-year-old who threatened American Airlines on Twitter
With Tamron Hall on MSNBC. A teenager sent a joke threat to an airline and ended up in police custody. The lesson for parents has not changed: there is no such thing as a private post.
Fake credibility: buying followers
On FOX Business and Bloomberg on the fake-follower economy. Rule: never buy what you can only earn. Bought followers poison your own data about who your customers are, and AI-generated reviews are the 2026 version of the same mistake.
Buying Twitter followers
Companies were buying fake followers by the thousand. I explained why it was worse than useless: it poisons your own data about who your customers are.
Buying fake Twitter followers, with Pimm Fox
On Bloomberg TV with Pimm Fox on the fake-follower economy and what it did to brand credibility.
Manufactured attention: Sharknado, Alex from Target, Charlie Sheen
A movie about a shark tornado, a teenage cashier and a celebrity meltdown each became the most-talked-about thing on the internet for a week. Rule: you cannot manufacture a viral moment, but you can build something that is designed to be talked about. Most companies build things that are designed to be ignored.
Sharknado and the Twitter craze
A made-for-TV movie about a tornado full of sharks became the most-tweeted event of the summer. I explained why: it was built to be talked about, which is the only marketing lesson that matters.
Alex from Target: how a teenager went viral overnight
A photo of a teenage cashier went from one tweet to millions of followers in a day. I explained the mechanics and why brands could not manufacture it, though many tried.
Charlie Sheen's Twitter dominance, with Greg Kelly
Charlie Sheen set a record for the fastest million followers. I explained what a celebrity meltdown taught brands about attention, for better and worse.
Charlie Sheen and social media, with Ellie Rountree
With Ellie Rountree and Greg Kelly on Charlie Sheen's run on Twitter.
The tweet that broke the news, and the brands that sounded human
The first photo of Flight 1549 in the Hudson came from a passenger on a ferry, not a newsroom. The NFL learned that its players were now publishers. And the brands that won, Under Armour and a Westchester optician among them, were the ones that sounded like people. That last rule is the one I apply hardest to AI: if the message does not sound like a human wrote it, a human must rewrite it.
Five years after the Miracle on the Hudson: the tweet that broke the news
On the anniversary of Flight 1549, the story of the passenger on a ferry who tweeted the first photo of the plane in the river. The moment social media became a newswire.
The NFL and Twitter, with Dan Bowens
How social media was changing the NFL on and off the field, from player controversies to the league's own real-time content.
Companies bringing humanity to their brand
With Steve Lacy and Dari Alexander, using Under Armour, Cohen's Fashion Optical and CrossFit Westchester as examples of brands that sounded like people. The advice holds for every AI-written email a company sends today.
Chris Dessi highlight reel
The reel producers ask for: a fast cut of national appearances across FOX 5, FOX Business, CNBC, CNN and MSNBC.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the first thing a company should do in a social media crisis?
Respond within the first hour from a named person with what you know and what you are doing, even if that is 'we are investigating'. Chris Dessi's on-air advice since 2013 has been that silence reads as guilt and the crowd is always faster than the company.
- What did the AP Twitter hack teach companies?
That one compromised account can move markets. The Dow fell about 140 points in minutes on a fake tweet. Every corporate account needs two-factor authentication and a designated first responder.
- Why is buying followers or reviews a bad idea?
It poisons your own data about who your customers are, it is increasingly detectable, and it destroys credibility when discovered. Dessi made this case on FOX Business and Bloomberg TV in 2013 and 2014; AI-generated reviews are the current version of the same error.
- Can a brand manufacture a viral moment?
No, but it can build products and messages designed to be talked about rather than ignored. Sharknado, Alex from Target and Charlie Sheen's Twitter run each show a different way attention compounds; none was planned by a brand.
- How do these lessons apply to AI-written communications?
Every AI-drafted email, text or post must sound like a person and be owned by a person. Torque AI builds AI-run, human-owned systems for that reason: the machine moves every lead every day, and a named human owns the message.
Your follow-up should sound like you, even when a system sends it.
Torque AI builds the capture-to-follow-up engine and keeps a human's name on every message.