Posts Tagged ‘Twitter’

Congressman Steve Cohen of Tennessee isn’t the first person to make a Tweet that he later regretted. During the president’s most recent State of the Union address, the Democrat representative sent out some tweets to a twentysomething bikini model that seemed overly familiar: “Happy Valentines beautiful girl,” he wrote.

In the old days of political communication, it would be easy to hide such information. If it was a speech that no one recorded, claim it never happened. If it was a letter, tear it up. But now with Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and other social media, such things are recorded for all posterity.

Even deleting the offending Tweet or post isn’t a surefire way to save face. A group called the Sunlight Foundation  makes it the group’s mission to catalog social media communications by politicians in case they later decide to delete them. In Cohen’s case, his Tweets quickly spread from the blogosphere to mainstream political media.

It turned out that Cohen was simply communicating with his daughter — which was notable because the press and public hadn’t known that the never-married representative even had any children.

The story got weirder. Cohen, who turns out to be pretty social media-savvy, told the media he had “punked” them with that and other seemingly controversial tweets, because he knew they would be picked up by the mainstream press. He called it a planned move called “tweet and delete.”

With this tactic, a person or group tweets something they know will raise eyebrows, then delete it shortly thereafter. Social media monitors will pick up on the move and broadcast it out to the world — thereby raising far more attention to the information than it otherwise would have received.

“It occurred to me that a perfectly innocent, factually correct tweet, once deleted, would receive great media attention. And that is exactly what happened,” Cohen wrote.

Brad Phillips at PR Daily  opined that this might make for a daring PR strategy by a company looking to be seen as edgy in the marketplace. But, he concludes, “this strikes me as a dangerous game to play.”

There’s also the danger of having your social media account hacked or cloned. Recently the Associated Press’ Twitter account was briefly taken over by pranksters who Tweeted that the White House had been attacked by terrorists and President Obama seriously injured. The fraud was corrected minutes later, but it sent stocks tumbling in the mean time.

It seems clear that trying to “fool” the legitimate press through social media is a strategy loaded with opportunities to backfire.

#whatisahashtag? They are everywhere and are an essential element to the Twitter experience!

If you haven’t already found a way to connect people through hashtags by directing them back to your website where you can control the conversation, then it’s only a matter of time.

Best to get a-Tweetin’ sooner than later. That’s just one of the articles in our most recent BuzzWise newsletter!

Plus, how do you keep your digital sanity in a world where people may not get back to you soon … or even at all? We’ll give you an inside look.

And it’s time to get your computer and social media channels spiffy in a jiffy! Get some spring cleaning tips to clean out the clutter.

Check out our April BuzzWise newsletter … and sign up to join our mailing list today! #BuzzWise #ColesMarketing

Courtesy of PR Daily

I dread the day every year … April Fools’ Day. Well, maybe not “dread,” but I don’t look forward to it. I get worried about what pranks people will play on me … hopefully more fun and less humiliation or embarrassment.

And April Fools’ Day isn’t just for person-to-person jokes. Even brands got in on the fun with some very creative pranks this week.

Google unveils a suite of pranks. The search giant put out a video saying YouTube was shutting down. It also debuted Google Nose, the new scentsation in search.

Twitter launches consonants only site, Twttr.  The original Twitter (or what it calls “premium”) — with consonants and vowels — will cost users $5 a month.

Sharpie tries out food-themed colors. Look out for the limited-edition “Catsup Red, Cheddar Orange, Buns Beige, Beefy Brown and Pickle Green” markers!

Sony rolls out headphones for cats. The target was “pet owners who want to provide unique entertainment experiences for their furry, four-legged family members.” MEOW!

Try American Eagle’s skinny skinny jeans. Are skinny jeans skinny enough? You be the judge.

Check out some of the other examples of how many notable brands became practical jokesters for a day!