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One Mistake Most Digital Managers Make

If you were to ask me what is the one grave mistake a great number of social media/digital managers make, I'd say it has to be posting a tweet that is meant for your personal account onto your client's account by mistake. I won't say all social media managers have done this, but many have and many will. Take, for instance, this post from the University of Maine's Parking Services department:

WrongAccount

 

As far as Posting To The Wrong Account can go, this is among some of the worst I've seen, particularly because of the racial implications. Because it is irrelevant to what @UMParking normally tweets about, it's safe to say that this was likely a case of someone meaning to tweet from their personal account...and unfortunately, they posted a blatantly racist tweet onto their work account. Yikes.

Now most instances of Posting To the Wrong Account are not as terrible as the one I discuss here--normally it is as small as a colorfully worded tweet about your favorite football team or an "OMG" tweet about Scandal. But my point here is that it's a very common, very embarrassing mistake that can easily be avoided.

So what can you do? My one piece of advice is, unless it can't be avoided, never link your personal social media accounts, especially Twitter, to the same  app as your client's account. In fact, I wouldn't even l wouldn't even log on to Twitter from your company phone unless you absolutely have to.

Trust me on this. It will save you a lot of emabarassment in the long run.

What do you do if you slip up? Delete the tweet IMMEDIATELY. Not 30 minutes later, not tomorrow, IMMEDIATELY, as soon as you realize you have made the mistake.

Then, depending on how offensive it is--and given the nature of Twitter, you will know right away--apologize to your Twitter followers. And not a "sorry if you were offended" apology. It can say something like this:

We have deleted the previous tweet - it was sent in error. We send our deepest apologies. 

Now this won't necessarily stop all the outrage in your mentions, but you will have at least let your audience know that you are aware of the issue and that you are taking action. If other action is taken--i.e., a team member is removed from managing the account or is let go from the organization or company, you can note that as well.

But first and foremost, you have GOT to delete that tweet. There's no way around it.

 

 

 

What We Can Learn from Black Twitter

Okay, so here's the thing. 25% of Twitter users are African-American.

Naturally, African Americans on Twitter are going to create their own communities online, just as we do offline. Because of this, Black Twitter exists and it is an extension of black culture, as Maya Francis so eloquently wrote in a recent XOJane article:

Here, I’ll say it a bit more directly: Black people are awesome, our culture is innovative and Black Twitter, should you choose to accept its existence as fact, is like a digital unfolding of cultural blackness. The stoop. The back tables in the cafeteria during lunch period. The corner. Ball courts. Barbershops. Church. Technology is reconstituting the traditions embedded in the history of black rhetoric. The anonymity of the Internet provided a new gathering space.

Ever since I read Maya's article, I've been thinking about what this means for both online organizers and even a few companies. I've also been thinking about the power of Black Twitter. I tried to find examples to point to that could illustrate that African-Americans on Twitter are influencers.

Then, Paula Deen happened.

Yes, Paula Deen shared her dream of a plantation-themed wedding and admitted to using the N-word numerous times. She had already been sued by a former employees for discrimination and harassment (a point that constantly gets overlooked), and then her admissions became the icing on the cake.

It was a story that mainstream media wasn't quite talking about - that is until it exploded on social media in general and Twitter in particular. The people most vocal were--wait for it--Black Twitter users. First, there was #PaulasBestDishes as a trending topic. Then, when Paula released that terrible "apology" video, there was #PaulaDeenApologyBingo. Black Twitter was abuzz with all kinds of conversations about Paula Deen and her admitted racism. And soon - in fact, not even three days later as the tweets got louder and more frequent - Paula Deen began losing sponsorships left and right. The chips started to fall faster than you can say "Paula's fried butterballs" (and yes, they are a thing).

I'm not saying that Black twitter users alone led to Paula Deen getting fired. What I am saying is that naturally, the more people are talking about an issue, the more attention it gets from the powers that be (mainstream media, corporations, etc.). And I think this recent situation shows us that perhaps communities of color on social media have value and influence that both brands and organizers alike should tap into.

Organizers who work on issues effecting communities of color should think about how they can use social media to reach their audience - and not take it for granted. Companies should take note of who is talking about their brand, and how they are talking about them; it may effect how you market their brand and how they reach out to consumers of color. But one caveat: be careful not to co-opt the online communities that people of color have built for themselves.

How can brands effectively reach out to communities of color on Twitter? What about Facebook? Where is the line between reaching out and co-opting? Is Black Twitter's influence understated? Let's talk about it in the comments.