Social media screw-ups you *must* avoid

Once viewed as something to dump on the interns, social media is now integral to corporate

marketing, and a mistake can go viral in the click of a mouse. Here are five screw-ups that

illustrate why social media should be taken seriously.

By Jeff Jedras

Mind which account you’re tweeting from

An employee at the company Chrysler – which is proud of its Detroit heritage – hired to do its

social media probably meant to tweet this from his personal account. Instead, wrong button,

and Chrysler has a PR crisis. Keep your personal and work accounts separate, and tweet

carefully.Image from jalopnik.com

Careful when hashtag hijacking

Finding a way to insert your brand and message into a trending hashtag can be sound social

marketing – when done right. But choose your hashtag carefully. The Gap took heat for

encouraging online shopping while Hurricane Sandy took lives and made thousands homeless

on the East Coast. Always think before you hit send.Image from adweek.com

Am I allowed to say that?

Social media encourages sharing, but not everything should be public. Gene Morphis lost his

job as CFO of clothing company Francesca's for a series of tweets and Facebook posts, including

"Board meeting. Good numbers=Happy Board." Some company information needs to be

disseminated a bit more delicately.

Any joke will offend someone

The thing to remember about humour, is someone is always going to be offended. You want to

keep any jokes simple, tame, and G-rated. Even if you’re a condom manufacturer. And misogyny

should definitely be avoided, as Durex South Africa learned after this tweet.Image from carlashore.wordpress.com

Hide something and you’ll get caught

In 2006, “Jim & Laura” opened a blog and began driving an RV across the U.S., staying in Wal-

Mart parking lots, writing about their adventures and the Wal-Mart employees they met who

all seemed to love their jobs. Only problem – the “bloggers” were hired by Wal-Mart’s PR firm,

Edelman. They were exposed, giving Wal-Mart a black eye. Social media needs authenticity. Image from Jared C. Benedict