JPMorgan invited the internet to #AskJPM — and canceled the Q&A in a day

JPMorgan Chase announced a Twitter Q&A: vice chairman James B. Lee Jr. — the bank's top dealmaker, who had worked closely on Twitter's own IPO — would take over @JPMorgan on Thursday, 14 November 2013 to answer questions submitted under #AskJPM. The bank had paid more than $30 billion in fines and legal settlements since 2009, from the London Whale trading loss to foreclosure practices, and it was inviting the internet to converse.

The hashtag filled up on Wednesday afternoon. Some tweets mocked the premise itself — 'Do you think maybe this whole #ASKJPM idea was not well thought out?' Others went straight for the record: '#askJPM Any plans to return illegally foreclosed homes to their rightful owners? If not, how do you justify your continued existence?' One analysis found more than two-thirds of #AskJPM tweets were negative. Before the session's scheduled start, JPMorgan called it off.

The bank's own statement became the episode's closing line: '#Badidea! Back to the drawing board!' #AskJPM became the textbook example of a hashtag hijack — an unmoderated hashtag is not a Q&A when the reputation is bad; it is an open comment section the host has to read.