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Creative Ramblings > Branding > Social media practices gone wrong: Tasteless tweets

Social media practices gone wrong: Tasteless tweets

14 Aug, 2012 Branding Tips Twitter Permalink
Screenshot nra

Tweet from the NRA, a few hours after the Aurora, Colorado, shooting. – Source: PostAdvertising.com

In my four and a half years as a Twitter user and advocate, I can say that I have seen it all. From bad jokes to discriminatory and racist slurs, there is always something going on on the micro-blogging site.

No one is perfect; we all make mistakes. However, some mistakes are more costly than others. They will actually destroy your reputation before you even have the time to say: “I should have known better.”

So why do people continue making them? Probably because they feel protected behind their computer screens.

bad social media practice

Chris Brown

Source: Ungarnished.com

Gilbert tweet

Tweet posted a day after the earthquake and tsunami in Japan last year. – Source: ComeRecommended.com

As a brand, you have a huge responsibility. Not only do you have to uphold a higher standard of personal conduct than what others expect, but you also have to act as a role model.

It is fine to have opinions. However, those that promote discrimination or are disrespectful in any way should never come into the picture when you do business. So, leave them at home where they belong. Your goal is to serve your audience to the best of your abilities, not force your personal agenda on others.

In a nutshell, use Twitter as a tool to reach out to people in positive ways. Be kind to everyone. Remain professional and ethical. But, most importantly, avoid controversies.

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Creative Commons License
This article by Cendrine Marrouat is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

About The Author

Cendrine Marrouat is a journalist, blogger, content curator, author, and workshop facilitator located in Canada. She is the founder of two social media blogs: Social Media Slant and Creative Ramblings. On March 6, 2012, she released The Little Big eBook on Blogging: 40 Traffic Generation Tips, a comprehensive resource that provides bloggers of all levels with essential information and precise guidance to attract quality traffic to their blogs. She is currently working on an eBook on social media strategies that should be released before the end of 2013.
  • http://www.bidadarivillasubudbali.com/ Fatima

    I agree social networking have a huge responsibility on them to maintain their content as much as do their owners. Thanks for the share.

    • http://www.cendrinemarrouat.com Cendrine Marrouat

      Hello Fatima,

      Thank you for your comment. Not sure I understand it though. Would you mind explaining things a bit?

      • http://www.diamondlight.net/ Fatima

        I meant that the responsibility of maintaining quality content lies equally with the all the users on a social network as well as the builders of that network.

  • http://www.tailoredleadershipinitiatives.com.au/what-we-do/leadership-training/ Aayna

    Hey Cendrine,
    A very thoughtful share. I myself have encountered people posting rubbish on the social networking sites; they assume they can write anything as public will never get to see, who they really are. It’s a great responsibility when one is writing something at such a large platform, even a small mistake can lead to huge repercussions. Thanks for highlighting this aspect which was left in abeyance till date.

    • http://www.cendrinemarrouat.com Cendrine Marrouat

      Thank you for your comment, Aayna! The more we talk about it, the better I think.

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