A Facebook friend posted about the death of her significant other, which apparently happened unexpectedly that morning. While I obviously feel for her in this terrible time in her life, I am not sure that I could do the same thing in the same circumstances. If someone I deeply cared about died, I don’t think I would want to publicize it immediately via social media. First of all, I don’t even think I would be ON Facebook that day or for several days or possibly weeks afterwards. Secondly, would I want others who cared about that person to find out that way? I think a personal call or visit would be better. I know people use social media as a way of reaching out, so maybe this person was just reaching out for her well-deserved sympathy via “a group hug” on Facebook. 

On the flip side, I know people post about the death of their pets and favorite celebrities regularly. I’ve even seen posts about losing parents. I know social media is a vehicle for connecting with people and is a way to reach a lot of friends quickly. Maybe for some people, it is easier to reach out without having to keep reliving the experience. 

I think, like everything else associated with social media, it’s new and the rules are constantly changing. I wish Emily Post had given us a guide on how to discuss sensitive topics on Facebook. Maybe that would make navigating these uncharted waters a bit easier.

Just last week, a senior Iranian cleric proclaimed that women who wear immodest clothing and behave promiscuously should be blamed for earthquakes. Yes, you hear me right – cleavage-caused earthquakes. Upon reading this, Purdue University senior Jennifer McCreight, 22, wrote a blog post about this claim, and decided to test the cleric’s theory by wearing her most cleavage-showing shirt today. She spread the word about her experiment through Facebook and Twitter, and at last count, nearly 200,000 women had pledged their support of and participation in this endeavor, aptly named “Boobquake.” 

Being neither a cleric nor an employee of the U.S. Geological Survey, I have no expertise in presuming the likelihood of an earthquake or linking it to the actions of a lot of immodest women. However, I cannot help but to think – who would have ever thought that such an unsubstantiated claim would 1) garner this much attention and 2) receive such an overwhelming response, so quickly, through social media? 

I think back to… oh, five or so years ago, when a story of this nature would have never been mentioned in our blog. I can’t help but ponder some of the possibilities had this story broken five years ago. 

1)      Assuming Jennifer McCreight even had a blog five years ago, she probably wouldn’t have had nearly as many hits to her blog as she has recently received, which is likely a result of her participation in social media.

2)      Assuming she wanted to spread the word about this effort, McCreight would have likely had to travel through traditional mediums, pitching this as a story to gatekeepers at print, TV or radio media outlets, and hoping that one (or some) of them picked up the story, broadcast the story to its loyal readers/viewers and hoped that they’d spread the word to their circles of influence.

3)      Seriously, who could have guessed the potential impact of Facebook or Twitter and how integral they would be in our everyday communication?

Social media has paved the way for a completely different cycle of communication—one that can, at times, override traditional mediums and take messages directly from influencer to audience. “Boobquake” is just another example of this phenomenon, one that I don’t foresee going away any time soon.

It’s exciting to think of the possibilities that social media holds for the future, but also a further proof that agencies like ours are critical for organizations to be able to continuously adapt to new ways of spreading messages.

Whereas Twitter has become known for its simplified format and sign-in page, it has dynamically updated this frequented page with a clumped group of the “who’s who” of Twitter users on the far left; the “top tweets” or updates of the moment (real time) in the middle section; and an introductory section for anyone who is new to Twitter to the far right. These changes, however simple, provide a potential user who may have long shied away from this service, a better and more user-friendly look into how Twitter actually works. 

As a recent article in Fast Company noted, the new page “does a much better job of showing new users what the service is actually about.” This is something Twitter must do if it plans to continue its rapid growth in both the U.S. and abroad and expand its unique value proposition. Twitter has already shown they recognize this need; a recent blog post on the official Twitter blog stated “all of our recent changes embrace the notion that Twitter is not just for status updates anymore.” 

To quote Twitter itself, the importance of being on Twitter is that “with so much being shared, we know that there’s something of value for everyone.” 

To find out more about how Twitter works and what it can do, contact Massey Communications, your social media resource that understands how media works!

Tilly (or Tilikum) has had a somewhat eventful existence that has spanned several locations in captivity and multiple occasions of frightful outbursts with his trainers, but none like the one which took place this week – spelling fatal tragedy for one of Sea World’s best trainers, Dawn Brancheau. 

As the news of the trainer’s death-by-whale-attack spread across the globe (within minutes reports had reached CNN status), the more than 10,000 followers of Sea World’s Shamu mouthpiece on Twitter, @Shamu, wondered what would happen to the real whale’s virtual mascot. Known for his funny “tweets” and humorous comments, any comment from him would have been inappropriate and Sea World recognized that. After multiple days of silence, he tweeted his last tweet. 

At this difficult time, @Shamu will not be active. For Twitter updates follow @SeaWorld_Parks. http://bit.ly/b0oU3l 

It’s truly sad to see Twitterville a little quieter without this witty voice, but as a PR professional, I completely agree with Sea World’s decision to, at least temporarily, suspend the account that mimics their world famous whale and instead focus on their overall theme parks. As Orlando Sentinel Reporter Beth Kassab smartly commented, “this heart-wrenching crisis will ultimately reveal the strength and resiliency of a brand that establishes a loyal customer base that feels a more personal connection to a business.” 

While I’m not privy to its crisis communications plan for when an event such as this happens, Sea World has done a brilliant job with its social media efforts and is doing its best to respond to tragedy by scaling back appropriately. I suspect their brand will recover as a result. Who knows, someday we may once again hear the voice of @Shamu again… 

If you find yourself in the midst of a crisis situation and would like to speak to the area’s reactive communications experts, please contact Massey Communications at 407-581-4222 or info@masseycommunications.com