Early Friday morning, a lone gunman opened fire during a showing of Batman in a movie theater in Aurora, CO. People were killed. People were hurt. It was all over social media as well as traditional media. It’s a tragic situation.
Later that same morning, two organizations tweeted unfortunate posts, because they were unaware of the situation.
One tweet was from the National Rifle Association:
“Hello shooters! … “ it started out.
And this tweet from @CelebBoutique:
I feel for those social media managers. A simple tweet can turn sour in an instant, and the backlash can be detrimental to the organization for months, even years, to come. Both organizations have removed the tweets, apologized and issued apology statements. They both indicated they were unaware of the situation.
This is a good lesson for anyone who is tweeting on behalf of a company or organization. Be sure you are aware of what is going on in the news…in the world…and if you are going to use a hashtag, or mention something is “trending,” make sure you know exactly WHY and how those hashtags and trending topics are being used.
A few minutes of research now can save you a PR nightmare later.
One Kansas Girl 
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