MarketWatch’s Quentin Fottrell gets it right in his article, “Like Roseanne, all Americans are just one bad tweet away from being fired.” Tweeting can upend your life, and it doesn’t matter who or what you are. Consequences are swift and mostly unforgiving when it comes to social media.
Six lessons to consider about Roseanne Barr’s epic disaster, because you don’t have to be a celebrity to cause one. You can be a hospital, a healthcare system, a clinician or…a CMO.
- Congratulations! You have followers. But your followers are not necessarily your friends. They may not share your views one iota. In fact, the only reason they may follow you on social is because it’s better to know thine enemy – or competitor, as it may be. You never know who is lurking in your followers list.
- Social media is immediate. One false move and you’re outta there! You will likely not be given 30 days or even two weeks’ notice to find another job. You may recover to a certain extent, but trust is lost, and your reputation permanently altered.
- You don’t have to be a celebrity to be considered a public figure. You just have to allow access to your social media account for others to see. Once you say it, show it or even share it from someone else, it lives on the interweb forevermore, thanks to screenshots.
- Speaking of forevermore, if you cause an epic fail, that means that every other mistake you previously made will now be rehashed – because the internet can be one vindictive animal. Prepare to immediately say, “I am sorry.” Repair what you can. Show remorse. Mean it.
- Seriously, your mother was right. Just because you think it doesn’t mean you should say it. Ever.
- Pointing fingers does not help. Even if it was someone else on your watch who said it or did it, you need to respond to your constituencies accordingly. ABC firing Roseanne? Case in point.
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