Posts Tagged ‘twitter’

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Does Crisis Spell Death for Sea World’s Social Media Efforts?

Monday, March 1st, 2010

As an Orlando, Fla- based agency, we have an inside track to the news that comes out of some of the happiest places in the world, our local theme parks. One of these is none other than the home to the world’s most famous killer whale, Shamu. This is, of course, the moniker used for their whales and especially for their largest whale, a male nicknamed “Tilly.” 

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

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Posted in Crisis Communications, Current Events, Social Media | No Comments »

Do You Tweet/Facebook at Work?

Monday, October 12th, 2009

social media at workAccording to a study conducted by Robert Half Technology and released by Computerworld, 54 percent of U.S. companies say they have prohibited employees from using social networking sites, including Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and MySpace while at work. Interestingly enough, YouTube, which is not necessarily always as “politically correct” as the above-mentioned sites, was not included in the survey. 

The study also reported that one in five companies allows use for work-related purposes. On one hand, it’s obvious from the employer’s perspective that team members should be working rather than “playing” online. However, it is interesting to note that these sites also offer value via “staying connected” with current/prospective clients and business partners. I find myself using Facebook much more often now to reach out to business contacts than I did a few months ago. I often send messages to “friends” as a means of following up, getting information and so on. In addition, our agency team members, as well as our clients, use tweets and fan pages to post news and events. And it is also interesting to note that I get an almost immediate response to my messages, which leads me to believe that people have access at work or using Smartphones.  

I know it’s a challenging discussion as social media becomes more predominant. While I understand the management issue of regulating social networking sites at work, I hope that as professionals, we are responsible enough to understand the relevance of social media and the balance we need to maintain in our workplaces. 

I’m asking for an informal survey. Do you use social networking sites at work? Do you spend more than a few minutes/day on them? Reply anonymously if you’d like!

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The Compromise of the Internet Era

Tuesday, October 6th, 2009

password_starThis morning, the ever-reliable go-to source for all things Internet on Twitter, @mashable, reported that more than 20,000 Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo and AOL passwords had been compromised. To be more specific, the article read, “the login data of over 30,000 Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo, AOL, Comcast and Earthlink accounts have been posted online.” 

Yikes! Where is Chicken Little? The sky is falling!! The result: instant Internet panic. Within minutes, “Yahoo” became the trending topic on Twitter (one instance where the company jumped ahead of the other competitors, and not for a good reason). Even I waited no more than 30 seconds before going and changing the password to my Gmail account. 

Google (Gmail) has spoken frankly on the matter and said to BBC that they “recently became aware of an industry-wide phishing scheme through which hackers gained user credentials for web-based mail accounts including Gmail accounts.” 

Ever the cutting-edge company, Google has already taken immediate action to safeguard the affected accounts by forcing password changes. Spokespeople from Google and Yahoo have already said they recommend that people regularly change their passwords and be aware of phishing scams. 

This is definitely part of the compromise of the Internet era. We trade a level of security for instant access to information and ease of communication and many of us use the same password for multiple web sites to keep us from forgetting our passwords. Shockingly, Yahoo reported that about 40 percent of people that had been hacked, had the same password for every web site they used. There are numerous ways that technology has enhanced our lives and it will continue to do so, but with these enhancements come risks and now fair warning has been issued. I hope people will heed the advice of Google and Yahoo. Safety is something not worth compromising.

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Twitter on Lockdown in the NFL

Tuesday, September 29th, 2009

twitter and nflAs someone who is still getting used to Twitter and the social media world, I often find that although I read something and have an immediate response that I would like to fire off, I have learned to restrain myself and spend some time thinking about the potential impact of my words. 

I realize that my words represent not only myself, but my family and the organization I work for. And I am noticing that with each new wave of social media users, organizations are starting to put policies together to help ensure that its team members abide by certain codes of conduct when using social media. 

The most recent international organization to institute a social media policy for its employees is the National Football League (NFL). Twitter lockdown goes into effect for all NFL players 90 minutes before game time and doesn’t end until all of the post-game media interviews have been conducted. During that time, all players, coaches and team personnel are prohibited from tweeting. 

And the National Basketball Association (NBA) will likely follow suit. 

Many may argue that these policies hinder an individual’s right to freedom of speech. I disagree. I believe the NFL and possibly the NBA are taking steps to help protect their image, to defend their brand and to mentor players about maintaining a team perspective. In all honesty, I believe that this will help keep a team’s “dirty laundry” close to home instead of aired out to the rest of the world. Many professional athletes are trying to jump into the world of social media, but they need to remember that they can have a huge impact on the organizations that they represent. Social media outlets such as Twitter can certainly help to create positive buzz for organizations, but employees need to commit to keep their negative feelings to themselves.

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