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It seems like every other day the Twitterverse is gloating over another social media “failure”. A tweet that’s gone awry, someone who tweeted to the company account instead of their personal one, a “cute” post taken not quite right.
Most are mistakes made by interns or freshly minted associates. You could say, teachable moments. Others, are made by more seasoned professionals. And still, some are made by our peers. Yet, in each instance, the Twitterverse viciously and immediately demands someone be fired, without even knowing the backstory. It’s shocking. This is real life, not a reality TV show.
Tonight, a corporate communications employee tweeted something tongue in cheek on her personal twitter account. Many were outraged. Others wondered if someone had hacked her phone. But, the mob turned the incident into a trending topic on twitter. Even brands got in on the “real-time marketing opportunity.” Looking back through her tweets, to me, it seemed right in line with her personality – sarcastic, raunchy and a self-proclaimed troublemaker. In fact, she sounds like someone I’d like to be friends with.
Sure, for those who don’t know her and taken out of context, the tweet is inappropriate. But, what happens when we all start censoring our opinions for fear of being fired or called out? What happens when we stop being ourselves because the crowd doesn’t agree with us? What happens when we don’t speak up because our opinion is different than others? Maybe this is a leap, but it’s a scary one. Yes, yes, there’s a time and place for everything, and some opinions really are factually not right… but, what happens when we stop sharing because we’re too afraid?
It’s a sad world when you joyously root and take pleasure in watching someone get fired for a single misstep. Social media managers aren’t failing, society is.
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