The online revolt over the stricken music retailer’s “ruin” came as administrators laid off 190 people at its head office and its distribution network. Finance director Ian Kenyon, appointed in August, is understood to have been among that number, reports The Telegraph.Tonight Poppy Rose Cleere, formerly HMV’s social media planner, claimed responsibility, saying senior staff had “never seemed to grasp” the importance of social media to build customer relationships.“I would apologise for the #hmvXFactorFiring tweets but I felt like someone had to speak. As someone without a family to support/no mortgage I felt that I was the safest person to do so,” she wrote via her personal Twitter account.“Not to mention, I wanted to show the power of Social Media to those who refused to be educated.In a lengthy explanation, she added: “I hope they’ve finally listening.”A family member, also on Twitter, said that “strangers fired mass groups” at the company and that Poppy was “already receiving job offers” in social media following her actions.The string of tweets from HMV’s official account had read: “There are over 60 of us being fired at once! Mass execution, of loyal employees who love the brand.“Sorry we’ve been quiet for so long. Under contract, we’ve been unable to say a word, or – more importantly – tell the truth.“Under usual circumstances, we’d never dare do such a thing as this. However, when the company you dearly love is being ruined… and those hard working individuals, who wanted to make HMV great again, have mostly been fired, there seemed no other choice.”“As management raced to stop the tweets, the feed read: “Just overheard our Marketing Director (he’s staying, folks) ask “How do I shut down Twitter?” The messages, which were all tagged #hmvXFactorFiring, were quickly deleted. However, they none the less spread rapidly across the site as users retweeted the posts and grabbed screenshots of the comments. “Never fire the person in charge of your Twitter feed without revoking their access first,” came the advice from one onlooker.The Tweeter’s identity known within the company, but no action was taken as she has already been let go. HMV said in a later tweet that it had been the actions of an “upset colleague”.Administrators to HMV meanwhile confirmed that 190 redundancies had been made across the companies’ head office and distribution network.Nick Edwards of Deloitte said: “Since our appointment as administrators over two weeks ago, we have been assessing the financial position of HMV.“Following this review, a number of redundancies at the head office and distribution centres have been made. Although such decisions are always difficult, it is a necessary step in restructuring the business to enhance the prospects of securing its future as a going concern.”He said he was hopeful that the restructured business has a future. What shape it takes is likely to be decided by its suppliers and Hilco, the restructuring specialist, which last week bought the bank debt behind the retailer.