The ‘It was hackers’ excuse
When a high-profile person posts something stupid on social media and then gets “caught,” it seems the only excuse on the table lately is, “It wasn’t me, it was hackers.” Yawn. Who actually believes this excuse? Who ever did?
The latest to offer up this all-to-common excuse is young NHL player, Tyler Seguin. He was just traded to the Dallas Stars. The tweet in question? “Only steers and queers in Texas.” You can read more about the what the 21-year-old tweeted HERE.
Of course, he deleted his tweet, and the team has “addressed” Seguin as well as issued the obligatory, “This, in no way, represents the organization, blah blah blah,” statement. In addition to the standard apology and clarification, the Stars also included, “…and we’ll continue to work on educating our players regarding the importance of their conduct on all forms of social media.” Work on educating? That’s a fancy way of saying, “try.”
An athletic organization that doesn’t take the time to educate – not attempt or try or wish to but actually really sits their athletes down for some hard core PR and communication training – deserves the heat of the spotlight when their players behave irresponsibly. Those organizations should not be allowed to issue the empty “it was hackers” or “we’ve addressed the issue” excuses if they are not going to invest the time and effort to protecting their brand by equipping their front-line ambassadors with proper tools to represent the organization professionally, blades on or off.
My favorite quote from Seguin, not only expresses what TRULY happens when he’s online, but likely what happens when a lot of athletes and others decide it is time to tweet. “…sometimes I forget that I’m on Twitter in front of a quarter-million people and not just talking to my friends. It’s just another learning experience.” That is the mentality we are dealing with. And that is a behavioral shift that can easily be changed with good old fashioned education.
Beaming Bohemian consults with university athletic departments to establish social media guidelines, educate staff, coaches and student-athletes, and implement strategic communication and content plans which work to achieve positive and purposeful goals.
Don’t Be That Guy/Girl
“Think carefully about the first impressions you are making on your future college classmates. You don’t want to be the person on the Class of 2017 Facebook page whom everyone else talks about when they gather, in person, for the first time.”
Sound advice, I found in this article posted to the NY Times. In addition to all of the other wonderful advice provided by author Nikki Magaziner Mills, this comment should serve as great motivation for high school graduates to take care with what do AND what they post this summer. Your future roommate will certainly look you up on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and any other network you share your life with, just as you will look to learn more about them. What impression are you giving? Will they be excited to be roomies, or have you given them enough material that they are dreading the year with you? What do you want them to know about you?
No doubt, this summer between high school and college is a special one. Take time to enjoy every moment, to strengthen the bond with your hometown friends, your family and loved ones. But also take some time to prepare for your new life and think about how you want your first year at college to play out.
Summer is the perfect time to get in the habit of behaving and communicating responsibly. Post photos and updates that let your future classmates know who you are and what type of friend you’ll be come fall. Start conversations with them now, so that you won’t have to break the ice at a time when a gazillion other things are new, exciting and a bit overwhelming. Show your new college buddies why they should look forward to being in your social circle. Establish good relations now. These may very well be people you have in your life for a very, very long time.
“We’ve always behaved badly; now we can do it in front of the entire world.”
Something to think about as you grow into adulthood and take some major steps this summer toward your college career. One “behaving badly” tweet, photo or video can and will precede you. Don’t let social media be the cause for your freshman-year dreams to go “poof.” Use social media to get started on the right foot. Have fun, stay positive and tweet with purpose!
It’s Also What You Like
Last night I spoke with another group of undergrads, this time at UCLA. I was, again, surprised with the small numbers of students who have LinkedIn accounts, especially students who are graduating. We have got to get these young adults up to speed on better use of social media!
When I conduct these seminars, I provide students with both the good and the bad of social media. It’s important to show them how easy it is to make a major mistake, but also give them some good examples to follow. They need inspiration as much as they do a wake up call.
One of the things that stuck with my group last night, was the lesson that it’s not just about what you say, but also what you like. Facebook’s search has become much more powerful with the release of Open Graph. You can search for things like “My friends who like dogs,” or “People who live in San Diego who go to SDSU and like surfing.” These searches will produce results with a list of profiles. At UCLA, I targeted the search for members of the group who like “partying”and “Drinking” and such.
Luckily enough, one of the audience members popped up in my search results. He was amazed, as well as all of his friends. But it is terrific when this happens in real time. This young man ‘Liked’ almost 300 pages on Facebook. He admitted that he could not remember everything he liked and had no idea that he could be found by non-friends via the search function.
As I’ve said many times, Beaming Bohemian exists to infuse communication with positivity and purpose. In the case of these students, I enjoy to helping them find their positive purpose and new approach for using social media. If they begin to see how the professional world is using tools like Twitter and Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram to conduct business, market, communicate and recruit employees, they begin to look at how they can take advantage of these platforms, versus just socializing. Students easily pick up how they need to fix and build their image and manage their reputation.
Drug Deals, Twerking and Sorority Girls
What a week for news in San Diego! There were three news stories which affected teens and university students this week, where social media played a heavy hand in getting “caught.”
Don’t set up meetings on Facebook.
Students at Abraxas, Mission Hills, Poway and Ramona high schools, and were able to buy narcotics, according to sheriff’s officials. The variety of drugs purchased included heroin, cocaine, marijuana, oxycodone and hydrocodone. Wow. That’s some pretty serious stuff for high school! Are you wondering how the authorities track some of these sales? You guessed it. Social Media. The students arranged many of the drug deals over social media.
I now know what Twerking is!
Before I saw this new report, I had no idea what “twerking” was. I’m not sure what to do with this knowledge, but I now know what this suggestive butt-shaking is all about. And this twerking story also revolves around social media. Scripps Ranch High School students found themselves in very hot water after one student decided to share a student-produced twerking video on YouTube. A few problems with that? The video was made on campus and with school equipment.
I say many, many, many times in my social media sessions, “Nothing is private.” That speaks to things you choose to record or allow others to record (and even things you didn’t know are being recorded). It certainly applies to the things you post online.
A series of bad decisions led to this video getting made and posted to YouTube. This is not only a “think before you tweet” lesson, but a “think before you do.” What purpose does any of this serve? How will college admissions officers judge this video, and the decision to be in the video? This is another example of a misguided use of social media, and decisions which will only hurt these students in the long run.
Train students to use social media responsibly.
Even at the college level, students made a poor choice this week when it came to posting photos on Instagram. Members of the Alpha Chi Omega sorority at CSU San Marcos posted photos of themselves dressed like Latina gang members. Apparently the photos were taken during a retreat.
A few things are disturbing, in addition to the blatant cultural disrespect. A friend of one of the Alpha Chi Omega members said, “We can’t nit-pick every little thing, because there’s a lot more worse things that could happen.” This tells me that many students might think this is “no big deal.” The other problem is that the news report ends with,
“A spokesperson for CSU San Marcos told 10News no disciplinary action will be taken against the sorority, but that extra diversity training will soon be offered to all students, especially incoming freshmen.”
Where is the social media training? These students will continue to do “stupid stuff” on social media if they are not taught the impact their actions have online. Yes, they need to be more culturally sensitive, however, they need to be more responsible with their communication via social media. I’ve spoken with fraternities and sororities who made similar mistakes on social networks and were disciplined by the university. Part of their requirement to lift sanctions? Learn how to use social media more positively and for better purposes.
These three news reports differ drastically in what actions occurred, however, what they all have in common is that our San Diego high school and university students have a grave misunderstanding of how social media can work against you when you do not behave responsibly online. I’m sure all of these students thought that they wouldn’t get caught, either. And that’s a behavior that’s even more disturbing. Our young adults need to understand that what they do online is just as serious and just as REAL as what they do offline. Behaving badly online is not something you can get away with. Your actions in both realities will catch up to you. I’d like to see more of our students truly understand that.
Social Spring Cleaning
Media Mondays
Every Monday night, I pack up my computer bag and head to the University Club Atop Symphony Towers in San Diego to provide social media seminars for club members. It’s part of my consulting contract and, frankly, it’s one of my favorite aspects of work. I love helping professionals better understand these amazing and cost-effective tools which have completely changed the way we do business and revolutionized the way we communicate. I’ve met some wonderful folks during these sessions and have (hopefully) provided insightful information they can take back to the office and implement.
While it’s a no-brainer that membership organizations like business clubs, country clubs and the like are a perfect match for communicating through social media, it may not be as clear for your business which channels are best to tap into. It is better to select one or two channels where you know you can reach your target audience, versus spreading yourself too thin and attempting to be everywhere. I admit that as a solopreneur, it is tough sometimes to manage my content plan and effectively communicate. I feel completely disconnected and out of touch if a day goes by when I don’t post, tweet or share. But I will tell you that these tools, when used with good strategy and purpose, will produce positive results.
During my Monday night classes, I’ve witnessed several “a-ha moments” when an concept clicks or someone realizes how they can integrate social media into their communication plan. If you would like to learn more about the types of seminars I can provide or need to train your staff (or you!), please contact me. I am eager to assess your business strategies and help you better utilize social media. My number is 619.244.2400 and my e-mail is [email protected].
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