By: Peter Girard
Well 2014 is right around the corner, Christmas has come and gone and the internet is abundant with “Best of” and “Worst of” 2013 articles, blogs, and video posts. Personally, 2013 has been great to me. Kicked off 2013 the right way with a great new position right here at Caster, moved into a new house, I’ve maintained friendships, forged new ones, and traveled for business. Perhaps most importantly, I’ve grown a lot in 2013, started to hone new skills and learned a great deal. I’m sad to see 2013 come and go, but I think we’re all excited for what 2014 has to offer.
So, what’s one of the most important things I’ve learned as a budding PR Pro at Caster Communications this past year? My answer is two part. 1) Be mindful of what you post online and 2) Social media is incredibly powerful.
One of the biggest differences between who I am today vs. who I was one year ago is how I view social media in such a different light than I used to. It’s somewhat difficult to put into words, and indeed a strange feeling but when you spend all day managing social accounts for clients, usually the last thing I want to do at the end of the day is tell on my Facebook friends what I’m eating for lunch. I’ve become highly selective of what I choose to share on my personal social accounts, and it’s made me better at my job. When you’re selective about what you post on your social accounts, you’re less likely to make a move that can cost you your job. And I really like my job so I am going to do all that I can to keep it.
The best example that fully captures my two points; be mindful of what you post and social media is incredibly powerful is the tale of Justine Sacco. First off Justine, I’m sorry, much has been written about you this past week but everyone can learn a powerful lesson from you.
Quick back story for those who do not know who Justine Sacco is. A week ago today, Justine Sacco, a director of communications for IAC, was boarding a plane for a flight from London to Africa. Before powering down her connected devices for what would end up being an eventful 12 hours, Sacco fired off this tweet:
Twitter exploded into a firestorm. Sites like Gawker, Mashable, and Buzzfeed picked up the story, turning Justine Sacco and #HasJustineLandedYet into worldwide trending topics. Apparently this wasn’t the first time Sacco had tweeted without really thinking about what she was saying but her inability to get online and defend herself, apologize and delete the text gave the internet all the time it needed to get all relied up.
I think twitter user David Flor (@BrainClouds) said it best:
Social media can have a light side and a dark side, used for good, and used for bad. Within twelve hours, the Twitterverse had effectively destroyed this woman’s reputation. The eerie part about it though, is Sacco had no idea it was happening. Effectively the entire world was talking about this woman and she had no idea. That’s something to sit back and think about for a second.
If you couldn’t guess, Sacco and IAC have “parted ways” and she was forced to apologize as a result of her actions. The Sacco scandal raises important questions, some easier to answer than others. Should Sacco have known better given her career? Yes. But asking if she deserved all the fallout is a harder question to answer.
The ‘Sacco scandal’ exemplifies my point. Social media isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, and Justine Sacco surely will not be the last person to tweet or post something stupid and regret it. Moving into 2014, the Sacco scandal reinforces a powerful lesson and serves as potent reminder just how powerful social media can be, but you should always watch what you post.
What do you think about the Sacco scandal? As always, feel free to connect with me (@CasterPete) or Caster Communications (@CasterComm) on Twitter.
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