Triple check before you hit “post”
It’s now 2018, and we hope you realize the impact that social media has on everyday life and business. If you need more proof, a single tweet by Kylie Jenner last week negatively impacted Snapchat’s value by more than $1 billion. Still not convinced of social media’s power? Facebook is scrambling to downplay the potential impact of Russian interference in the 2016 US elections.
Companies are navigating treacherous waters when they engage their constituents digitally. Massive corporate social media accounts are run by people, so mistakes will be made. And, those mistakes can have a huge impact.
I was inspired to compile this list when I made a social media mistake of my own. I work on Obsidian’s social content, so I get account notifications when followers reply to our posts. I wanted to respond to a comment as Taylor Jolley, and I accidentally replied as Obsidian PR. Whoops.
This mishap wasn’t earth-shattering, but it did look a little odd until I was able to correct it. Thankfully, we’re not a multinational organization or major political candidate with hundreds of millions of followers.
To make myself feel better, I scoured the internet for examples of social media managers who haphazardly posted personal content on public platforms. And boy, did I find some juicy examples! Learn a lesson from these folks (and me) double, triple, quadruple check before you hit “post.”
In 2011, an employee at Chrysler mistakenly Tweeted a personal grievance with Detroit motorists on the car manufacturers Twitter account. Not only was the tweet intended for his personal page, it featured an expletive that was clearly inappropriate for the corporate account. He was fired for his mistake.
In March of 2017, a hacker broke into McDonald’s Twitter and shared their displeasure with the actions of President Donald Trump. Not only did they insult his actions and inactions, but they noted that he had “tiny hands.” Hacker? Likely story…
You’d be amazed at how attentive followers are, especially when you’re a U.S. senator and former presidential candidate. A staffer for Ted Cruz liked a post from a scantily clad website while logged into the official Ted Cruz Twitter page. This was especially controversial because of Cruz’s hard-line conservative views.
4. iPhone’s are so bad that I use one
While this social media manager didn’t distribute a personal message, they did make an enormous gaffe. They failed to recognize that Twitter (at the time) included what device Tweets were sent from. So, this French LG employee crafted a Tweet dissing iPhones and sent it from… an iPhone.
