If you are planning an initiative that will be in the public eye, social media should be included in your strategy.
Not long ago, a carefully crafted news release, op-ed or publicity event could get an intended message out to the public with a manageable blowback potential.
Today, people who craft brand images and messages have a more difficult time figuring out where the chips will fall when they place their message on the social media alter.
I call it a social media alter because these platforms have incredible power to make or break a company or group, yet harnessing their power can be a frustrating task.
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Prices had been softening for most of the previous month, but heading into the Labour Day long weekend, the price drops were startling.
Just ask Alberta premier Rachel Notley, who failed to clearly describe Bill 6, which allowed social media users to infer and share what they thought was in the bill.
While the Alberta NDP did make an effort to be more forthcoming on Bill 6 before they passed it, the negative social media attention likely will have a lasting impact on how some Albertans see the party.
Something buzzing in social media Jan. 4 stemmed from actions by a group of heavily armed men calling themselves the “the point of the spear,” who stormed and captured a remote wildlife refuge near to the town of Burns, Oregon.
When the news broke, much of the mainstream media stuck to the “armed protestors” narrative on how they were standing up to the federal government over land rights.
Social media, however, was not as kind.
Soon after the group stormed the wildlife refuge, Twitter began bursting with users relentlessly mocking the group.
The hash tags #Yeehawd, #YallQaeda and #VanillaISIS started trending, comparing the group to terrorist groups al-Qaeda and ISIS.
Here an example of one of the mocking tweets, by Belvin Klopoknik @Klopoknik:
“Oregon militiamen are willing to be martyred for their cause. And if they die, they will receive 72 cousins in the afterlife. #YallQaeda.”
It is likely the group will have difficulty getting their cause taken seriously after taking such a social media beat down.
