US Airways and the terrible, no-good, very bad tweet



This Monday morning was your typical start of the day for any public relations student I know. Nothing too out of the ordinary came about. Personally, I went to my first class, prepared for a presentation, presented that presentation, and then returned to my seat. As I sat in my Ethics class full of public relations and advertising students, I decided to check Twitter and see what was news for the day.

            It was nearly 3 o’clock when  I saw tweets regarding US Airways tweeting something inappropriate. Oh, big deal! Probably a hoax or rumor. I decided to check US Airways account to see if this was a true event and sure enough they have tweeted an apology regarding the tweet and have removed said tweet.

            My next instinct, like anyone else, is to go find this tweet. Someone in the Twitter world had to screenshot it for the rest of us. They couldn’t leave us all in the dark and hog the excitement to themselves! I search US Airways and there is already several articles regarding the tweet with this “inappropriate” photo. Most articles have it blurred and other Twitter users took the courtesy of just tweeting the graphic picture outright.

            Obviously I refuse to post this photo on my blog, go look it up if you haven’t seen it but you have been warned.

            My reasoning for making my blog this week about this tweet is to discuss public relations crises such as this one. I also feel the need to post some hilarious responses to the incident as well, just for fun.

            When I first saw the tweet and read the apology I wasn’t sure how I would react as someone representing this company after something like that. The first thing I would do is apologize immediately. People were obviously offended and upset, a lot of people were even more upset the tweet had been up for quite a while. So, first action to take is issue that apology.

Some people and organizations seem to think that waiting until the commotion has died down is the better response. I think that apologizing first and as soon as possible is a better response. This shows you are aware of the incident, it was a mistake and that actions are being taken to fix it.

 

Photo courtesy  of yahoo.com

This is what US Airways did. They apologized and updated the public on the current state of the incident. I thought they did right by issuing the apology and letting everyone know they were doing something about it by investigating.

Next, I would investigate and update the public on the situation as it unfolds. It turns out this tweet was an honest mistake by an employee who removed the post as soon as they realized what they had done. For your entertainment, I thought I would post these tweets I found later in the afternoon the day the tweet went out:

 

It has come out that the link to the graphic photo was in a link from a previous user who had tagged the airline in a tweet. The employee had reported the tweet and accidentally used that link when replying to another user about sending in comments or reviews to the airline.

That poor employee has probably had the worst week ever. But don’t worry, they are getting to keep their job for this honest mistake! A day ago, I read numerous articles about statements from US Airways regarding them keeping their employee and forgiving them of this accident. Here is a recent article I found about keeping the employee.

Don’t you wish most companies were like this? If they had fired the employee even though they admitted it was an honest accident I could see the public being enraged. I think this was just another smart move by US Airways during this crazy week for them.

 

@Youtern's 60 Day Challenge

After participating in the #InternPro tweetchat two weeks ago, I kept following the main account, @Youtern and noticed they are hosting a 60 day challenge for social media and networking. This challenge is a fun way to try and boost your career and promote yourself in social media and online networks with other people in the challenge.

         The challenge started a little over a week ago, with today being “Day 10: Join 10 LinkedIn Groups”. The Savvy Intern’s blog is where the updates are posted and tweeted from each day to invite people to participate in the challenge.

         For today’s “Join 10 LinkedIn groups” challenge, The Savvy Intern explains that LinkedIn groups are similar to tweetchats but much more intense and the conversation goes on continuously. The groups are similar to tweetchats since they both have categories you can choose from. Most of the categories on LinkedIn are pertaining to career goals, internships, or organizations.

                                              

                                              Photo courtesy of simplymeasured.com

         Some of the groups I’m currently in include: Job Openings, Job Leads and Job Connections; Journalism Jobs; The Maybourn School of Journalism; Movies and Marketing; Social Media News; and Niche Jobs.

         They recommend you try to join groups you can share conversation and common ideas with. Clubs, greek life organizations, industry associations, hobbies, any school networks or alumni associations are great examples of group categories you can search through to join.

         When you do join groups, make sure you engage in them and don’t just join them to make your profile seem advance. Introduce yourself in your groups, and communicate with others in the group. One way I stay updated with my groups is through the updates I receive in my email from each group. Once you join make sure and have interactions consistently with members of your group and join in on certain conversation topics.

         The rest of the 60 Day challenge days so far have been: Day 9: Schedule a Twitter Chat, Day 8: Set up three informational Interviews, Day 7: Social media sanity check, Day 6: Make Facebook your career BFF, Day 5: Reboot your Twitter bio, Day 4:LinkedIn headline upgrade, Day 3: Say “Cheese”, Day 2: Stalk new mentors, Day 1: reconnect with current relationships.

         My favorites among these challenges are Days 3, 4, and 5. These are all simple challenges that can help your online profiles and presence a lot.

         Say “Cheese” for Day 3 is great at explaining the importance of your online presence and representing yourself in good light. Anyone can see what you post so make sure you want your future boss approving of what you are posting.

         Day 4 and the LinkedIn headline upgrade is good for your LinkedIn profile and making your title on the sight more appealing. They encourage trying to impress anyone who might glance at your profile and make them want to interview you.

         And last, Day 5 is another great way to clean up your online profile and persona. A lot of Twitter bios today are simple and one worded, or sometimes are just a quote. This is all fun for younger people on social media but when someone is researching you online and find your Twitter (aka your microblog), they want to learn more about you. If your bio is a quote about ‘only living once’ and your tweets are constantly about your fast food runs, chances are your future employer won’t be very impressed.

 

                               

                                     Here’s a screenshot of my own Twitter bio

 

         Even though it’s already day 10, I am trying to take on these challenges in order to boost my online persona. Since I graduate soon these challenges can’t hurt, and I hope if you’re involved in social media you can have the chance to try a few as well. Make sure to follow @Youtern on Twitter and check out the hashtag #60DayChallenge.

 

 

 

 

Sources:

The Savvy Intern by Youtern. 4 April 2014. Web. 4 April 2014. http://www.youtern.com/thesavvyintern/index.php/2014/04/03/60day-challenge-day-10-join-ten-linkedin-groups/

The Savvy Intern by Youtern. 29 March 2014. Web. 4 April 2014. http://www.youtern.com/thesavvyintern/index.php/2014/03/29/60day-challenge-day-5-reboot-your-twitter-bio/

The Savvy Intern by Youtern. 28 March 2014. Web. 4 April 2014. http://www.youtern.com/thesavvyintern/index.php/2014/03/28/60day-challenge-day-four-linkedin-headline-upgrade/

The Savvy Intern by Youtern. 27 March 2014. Web. 4 April 2014. http://www.youtern.com/thesavvyintern/index.php/2014/03/27/60day-challenge-day-three-say-cheese/

Common Mistakes on Social Media Posts

In the field of public relations, we are all pretty much aware of the ever-growing social media world. News breaks through social media, companies gain information regarding their customers’ feeling toward their products, and often times you can reach someone in a company through their Twitter account instead of waiting for your customer complaint to go through. 

Most companies and organizations have caught up with the trend and realized the benefits of social media and free promotion and marketing through the various mediums. When companies use social media to promote or even just keep their brand out there, they have to follow some general guidelines of social media use for PR and marketing. 

Most of these are common mistakes that anyone in control of a organization or big name’s social media account could easily make, which in turn can result in no one wanting to follow you anymore or just create a negative image of the company you are representing. 

Chances are we’ve all made them on our own account already, but keeping these in mind can help you to give the best promotional social media campaign. 

1. Not being aware of your surroundings- We’ve all tweeted at times when we probably shouldn’t have. You never want to be the person that tweeted at a time when the content you posted would be considered inappropriate or even offensive. One example of this is when #Aurora was trending on Twitter due to the theater shooting in Aurora. Soon after, Celeboutique wasn’t aware of the shooting and sent out this tweet. 

Yikes, imagine what people were thinking when they saw this and actually were aware of the tragedy that had just occurred. Whatever you do, be aware of your surroundings and what might be happening in the world to be sure you don’t upset more than just your followers. 

2. Posting at the wrong times- Aside from inappropriate timing when it comes to posting, it is also a common mistake to post when basically no one will see it or react to it.  You are trying to promote and make people see you, so knowing the best times to post on social media will really come in handy. Here’s a tip: mid-afternoon Friday is the best time to have a tweet be seen.

3.Overloading with worthless content- Quality should be over quantity. Don’t just post on social media because you think people need to see your name or account. Post material that will actually attract your followers and fans. 

4. Blasting similar content on various mediums- We all know there are dashboards out there for managing different types of social media at one time. But using these dashboards to post the exact same thing on your Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other media is a sure way to make your fans and followers see you as being lazy. You should know the different language and audience that each platform has. Be sure the content you’re posting to these are appropriate for the people that may see it. Twitter only gives you 140 characters so you should make them count. Don’t waste it by matching it to your LinkedIn audience. 

5. Automated messages- Don’t you hate when you see that organization post the same thing every morning at the same time? Seems a bit like spam, doesn’t it? No one is interested in a robot running the content on an account. It’s much more interesting and engaging when there is a real person running the account and interacting with it’s followers. Engaging in tweetchats and using hashtags is one way to get even more noticed and appreciated for not using the typical automated dashboard post. 

6. Failure to proofread- Sure, a few misspelled words or grammar mistakes happen. But when you are writing correctly to your audience, your message gets across to them much better! We don’t want the mistake of someone calling you out on your own mistake and all your followers and fan base see it. It just makes things awkward. Proofread, or you could walk into an awkward situation such as this one. 

Not gonna lie, this one made even me squirm. Both of these bands are my favorites and it broke my heart to watch a squabble happen over Twitter regarding the proper “roll call” phrase. Avoid this by proofreading and save us all the pain of witnessing it. 

7. Information overload- With the fast paced world we live in, no one wants to sit there and read the same information over and over again. Everyone has their lives to get back to, or has some other tweet or post to go read. Get to the point!

And with the last tip on the list being to hurry up and get the point across, that’s what I got for you guys tonight. Hope everyone can benefit from this little list of common errors made on social media! 

Twitter and film promotion

               Twitter is used these days for tons of different promotions. Actors, singers, athletes, and different public figures use their Twitter accounts to connect with their audience and fans. One thing I’ve noticed Twitter has been used for in a successful way would be the use of advertising for entertainment purposes, my favorite being for film or television.

               There’s tons of different ways to use Twitter for promotion or advertising. Brands and companies have someone on their Twitter account all day waiting for a clever tweet to come to mind to grab the spotlight. Until recently, I thought it was just a means of people expressing their feelings in a limited amount of space. This past summer my mind was changed when I saw a retweet regarding one of my favorite film franchises releasing their new trailer online. “EXCLUSIVE: Catching Fire trailer” is all I read before jumping up and down for joy as I waited for the link to take me to the exciting new trailer of a film I had been all too excited for. As I continued to read I realized they had released the trailer on Twitter instead of premiering it at an awards show like most films do.

photo courtesy of @hungergamesnet

               Above is a recent tweet from after the film had been released to promote a new trailer. I’ve come to notice that a lot of free publicity has come for film franchises and television shows via Twitter. And what better way to gain publicity other than for free?

               Another example of this is a fairly new web series called “The Walking Tedd” which I heard about through Twitter and Facebook. Word of mouth came in handy when my cousin was tweeting about this new show needing a certain amount of donations to get the ball rolling on production. Of course I retweeted to help the cause. Now, the web show is up and running with followers and fans.

Photo courtesy of @IamWalkingTedd

               Pretty neat. Not only was this show needing money just for production, they had no means of advertising to say the least. Yet here they are with fans telling their followers to check it out.

I also found this article recently about how to promote your film before you go to a film festival. It’s all about using social media and word of mouth through bloggers and Twitter. The use of this microblog has surely changed the face of promotion and advertising for a lot of industries. We can expect a lot out of this little app we carry in our phones in the next few years.

Ethics in the media

            

   Ethics is something that is still very vague today. They aren’t exactly laws to restrict you from any action but yet most people in a culture or nation generally understand what is ethical or unethical. The question now is why is it needed in the media or business decision-making?

 I personally think a great example for this would be the most recent incident involving Justin Bieber and his DUI. If you are in public relations or journalism you probably know some of the laws regarding libel, slander and invasion of privacy. One type of invasion is exposing embarrassing facts of an individual that isn’t necessary to be made public. Now, why is it necessary that everyone in the nation know about Justin Bieber and his DUI? Here’s a link to CNN regarding his arrest, a video where Bieber is being picked apart by news anchors while waiving his police report around as if it were a golden ticket. CNN Bieber Arrest

               Is it something we all really need to be thinking about? Not only do I think that arrests and any incidents involving the law are a private matter for the individual, but I also think that when the media spreads this ‘news’ it is embarrassing. Everyone knows the media’s job is to tell the news and the truth but I also think they don’t see how unethical it is when they expose a public figure in such a way. Now all of the fans and ‘Beliebers’ might be pulling away from their support for the young pop star. Does he really deserve the embarrassment? Young girls now see their favorite idol/crush as a bad person because he broke the law.

               Since the news has come out regarding Bieber, more and more people have used his mugshot in a mocking way. The most popular memes on Twitter right now are using his mugshot and a Valentine’s quote as a Valentine card.

photo courtesy of carhoots.com

Welcome to my blog!

Nothing excites me more than the entertainment industry; specifically with actors, movies, and novels worth making a buzz. A blog and several posts are required for two of my capstone classes as a public relations student at the University of North Texas. So, sometimes my posts will have to do with assignments regarding PR and other times I plan to use this for media and entertainment purposes on my own. I’m very excited to get started! Go follow me on Twitter @alixdsmith if you like. I usually will retweet interesting news in the entertainment world as well as plenty of random tweets I might find entertaining.

To start off, my name is Alexandra and I usually go by Alex. I  am a member of PanHellenic at my University and my favorite things are books and movies. I also really enjoy fitness and jogging. I’m currently going through physical therapy so I may or may not post about my excitement for recovery. Enjoy!

 

Twitter: @alixdsmith

Instagram: alixdsmith